


Master

by Madly_Marmalade



Category: The Mandalorian (TV)
Genre: Baby Yoda - Freeform, Blindness, Clan, Fluff, Friendship, Getting jiggy in a pool, Hurt/Comfort, I'ma add more tags as we go, Jedi, Jedi Ruins, Mando, Multi, Oral, Original Characters - Freeform, Plot With Porn, Prophecy, Protectiveness, Sith, Slow Burn, Smutt, Survival, The Force, Touch-Starved, Uncharted Space, Violence, Yuuzhan Vong - Freeform, parenting, the mandalorian - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-02-15
Updated: 2020-05-22
Packaged: 2021-02-28 05:40:32
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 14
Words: 45,371
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22728553
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Madly_Marmalade/pseuds/Madly_Marmalade
Summary: ON HOLD - REVISION IN WORKSWhere do you hide when you don’t want others to follow?Their arrangement was simple. Protect and train the child. But Azree – a rouge Jedi padawan – never thought that returning home would be so hard. On a dangerous journey going deep into uncharted space, the lines begin to blur. As their barriers begin to crumble, something monumental tests the resolve of Din's newfound Clan.
Relationships: The Mandalorian (The Mandalorian TV)/Original Female Character(s)
Comments: 19
Kudos: 74





	1. Blind

**Chapter 1 - Blind**

Azree had grown comfortable around the Mandalorian in their months of travel together. She’d enjoyed the company of the quietly polite bounty hunter and his strange child. It was enough to numb the anxiety of every hyperspace jump, bringing her closer and closer to a past she’d so desperately hid from. _But the child needs to learn and there is only so much I can teach him. I’m no Master…_

After the adrenaline of the space battle cooled down it seemed the temperature had done nothing but risen. Sweat beaded over her shoulder blades and trickled down her spine. All around them the cacophony of insect life thrummed like a pulsing heartbeat. Azree stretched her limbs glad to ease the ache that had been building up with staying still. She had been useless in the battle, not even capable of manning a gun. While she trusted the Mandalorian, the energy that had surrounded that experience was tense and dark.

She heard him approach quietly to stand beside her. His soft footfalls had almost been lost in the sound of the chaos outside, but she could always sense his warm silver aura.

“Damn it’s so hot here. Is that a swamp I can smell?” 

“It’s a jungle of some kind, but I think you’re right about the swamp,” he confirmed evenly, moving further down the ramp to inspect his ship.

“Will you be okay with your armour in this heat?” She asked moving to follow him.

He was being touchy about it; she could tell by the way her shoulders prickled when he looked to her. Feigning innocence she waited patiently for his reply, her gaze turning to the muddy haze of the landscape around her. It wasn’t going to be long until her head would pound unbearably.

He didn’t reply, instead he moved away into the thick blur leaving her standing at the ramp alone. She huffed, dropping to lie down against the cool of the metal. _So much for being nice,_ she thought picking at her shirt and letting it drop to stick against her stomach. _Die of dehydration for all I care._ She tried to hear what he was working on, but the screaming of insects dulled everything else. There was the crunching of twigs and leaves, the metallic hiss of something. A chill fell over her body, instantly bringing her to a stand.

“Mando,” she called sharply feeling the reliable weight of her saber in hand. He was quiet in the cacophony. Without thinking she moved into the thick muddy haze of green and brown, searching for the reliable colour of silver and the source of the encroaching darkness. “Mando,” she called again sensing something watching her. There was the crunching of twigs and leaves, the metallic hiss of something, an unearthly click and chatter.

Then there was a black aura, ominous and with too many… _legs?_ She crouched in wait and let her double blade reveal itself. The creature wasn’t focused on her though, it moved silently towards the ramp. _The child is in there._ “Fuck,” she growled before charging madly at the strange creature. It got caught in her madness and turned its vague shape to challenge her, doubling in size almost instantly and growling low and threateningly. It was too late to not attack and Azree struck where she felt it most sensitive, rolling against the damp leafy ground as it also moved to strike her. She swung, ignoring the sharp stabbing sensation blooming from her left shoulder to shudder down her spine. With one more strike and a quick leap she was standing with her feet firmly on the ramp. It went to charge, two dark shapes towering above her at twice the height of the Mandalorian while the other five propelled it forward.

There was the sound of a blaster and she heard the shrill scream of the creature. She didn’t wait for retaliation and summoned the strength surrounding her to push, expelling a thunderous wave of force. It stumbled and spun into the thick murky haze with the crack of broken trees. She took a shuddering breath, hearing the creature crash through the jungle in the silence that followed. _Safe for now._

“Azree.”

Before she could turn to his voice, she felt him at her side. _Always so quick and quiet._ He took her hand and guided her back inside the hanger, not dropping their touch as he closed the ramp. She was very familiar with the ship after travelling with the strange family for so long and so his guiding touch was unnecessary, _but pleasant_.

“What was that?” she asked feeling her head spin in the quiet that followed. There was a low ringing in her ears.

His hand guided her further into the hangar and to a seat. “Some sort of giant spider… but scalier,” he said gently squeezing her hand before moving to her numb shoulder. “How do you feel?”

 _He sounds worried,_ she thought frowning. “What’s wrong?”

There was a long silence as his hands moved away from her shoulder. “Can you feel that?” he asked, his tone tight and short through the modulator. It made her throat feel constricted and her head spun again.

“This isn’t funny.”

“I’m wasn’t joking. Stay here, I’ll be right back,” he said, and she felt his hands graze across her shoulders before he moved away. His silver light disappeared, and darkness slowly swallowed her. She tried to stay calm. _This is different from an aura._ She was used to living in vague shades of shapes and colours.

Darkness was terrifying.

Darkness was bad.

“Mando?” She whispered feeling her body unhinge from this world. _I won’t panic. I won’t panic._ “Please come back,” she continued a little louder, a little more desperate. She closed her eyes and tried to reach out, to sense his presence through the force but the harder she tried the more it felt like trying to break through ice. She could sense the flow of energy, but she couldn’t connect, couldn’t touch.

“I’m just getting the med pack,” he said followed by a clang and a curse. “There’s an anti-venom serum in there. You’ll be fine once you take it. It’s nothing to worry about. Then we can make it to another planet, I don’t like insects and the ship will make it…”

_He’s talking too much._

His hands suddenly touched her, and she jumped, instinctively striking out at the darkness of the void. She hissed as her fists struck his hard beskar.

“Easy, it’s me,” he continued as his gloved hands lifted her left arm. “I’m going to give you the shot now, okay?”

Azree nodded, her free hand moving to touch where she thought his helmet was. She connected after a moment, feeling the cool curves. “I can’t see you,” she whispered trying to fight the thickness swelling her throat. “There’s none of your silver or warmth it’s just black… everywhere.”

He was quiet. There was a short prick on her arm. His gloved hands lingered on her. “I need to finish patching you up.” _He sounds scared almost._

“But how can I protect the child if I can’t sense anything? I’m useless without my connection to the force. There’s no need for me to… You should just leave-“

“You’re not going anywhere,” he growled. “Our agreement stays the same. You will help protect the child, teach him what you can, and lead us to the others like you.”

Silence settled over them as the Mandalorian worked on her numb back. She heard him open things roughly. _Is he frustrated or desperate?_ She reached out tentatively, fumbling awkwardly for a moment until she touched his strong arm. It took a moment to still her fluttering chest. _He’s leaning into your touch._ “It might take longer… If I can’t reconnect with the force, it will be hard to sense where they are.”

There was a moment of silence. Something told her he was struggling to ask what was on his mind. She waited patiently, distracting her distress with the feeling of his muscles underneath all those layers. _I wonder what it feels like to really touch him._

“Question for a question?” he asked, invoking something they had agreed on early. Her innate curiosity had caused some initial friction when it became apparent that both of them were also deeply private. As weeks had turned to months it was easier to understand the safe territory, the bad, and the painful.

She nodded and waited.

“Why did you leave? I don’t know if what I’m doing is right for the child, not if you left.”

Azree paused, her throat caught in the vulnerability of his tone, her mind darkened by the question. Swallowing hard she nodded. “Good question… As part of my training I left as a child to find others with a strong connection to the force, to help rebuild the Jedi Order… Our ship encountered Reavers deep into our journey and I was the only one who survived. I lost my sight and was so ashamed I didn’t think I could return… You don’t have to worry about the intentions of the Jedi, they will only want what is best for the child.”

The sinking feeling made her pull away from him to hold onto herself, just in case she fell into pieces and scattered. “You had nothing to be ashamed of,” he said quietly. “You were only a child.”

She shrugged to fill the silence, not trusting her voice to stay even and her eyes to stay dry for a long moment. She heard him return to spraying bacta against her numb back, his touch gentle and lingering. “I knew a Mandalorian when I was younger, when I had my sight… I remembered him without his helmet when he wasn’t on a job. I know this is very personal, but I want to understand why you can’t remove your helmet – or is it any skin at all?” She felt a blush bloom up from her neck like an angry rash. _Oh god, what he must think of you. Foolish horny blind girl with a sob story._

A noise came out of his modulator, something akin to a sharp breath or a short chuckle. She couldn’t image him gasping dramatically so she dropped her head and let her hair fall around her face in shame.

“It’s like what you said about the Jedi,” he responded warmly. It always surprised her how polite and patient he sounded. “A code, or a religion. Those who raised me followed the creed strictly, but it’s not something every Mandalorian follows. It’s rarer now to have Mandalorian’s outside of the creed, but it is possible.” 

She waited, shameless eager to hear how far he would go. “Do you ever wish things were different?”

There was an involuntary squeeze of his hand against her waist as his other gently brushed her long hair off her back. “Some things.”


	2. Chapter 2: Calm

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After a job goes south, the trio take a well needed break.

**Chapter 2: Calm**

_Lightning flashed, flooding the dunes in a violent white light for a heartbeat. Icy wet pellets of rain thundered from the sky to slash angrily at the makeshift shelter. The wind tore at the loose tatters and threatened to race into the inky blackness of the night, leaving them exposed to the savagery of the storm. The Mandalorian sat in silence watching the stranger before him. Her pale faded blue eyes focused on nothing but watched the small ball of light separating them. It was the only thing casting the thick darkness away and filled the small amount of free space in the tiny shelter. She didn’t seem unnerved by his presence; she had made no comment on the child he carried with him._

_“You’re a fool to be out here during storm season,” she quipped moving her pale, unfocused eyes over to the child sitting wrapped in a blanket in the Mandalorian’s lap. “You’ll get the poor thing sick.”_

_“What were you doing out here then?” he couldn’t help but grumble and wrapped his arms protectively around the small creature._

_She let out an earthy chuckle. “Being foolish.”_

_He made no indication of the smirk that twitched at his lips, but instantly felt more at ease with her strange presence. The child stirred, a small tired noise escaping its lips before its wide black eyes blinked once, twice, and closed._

_“We should rest too,” the stranger whispered just above the wind. “Nothing hunts in the storm and it won’t pass until daybreak.”_

_She curled onto her side and the light in the centre dimmed as another blustering gust of wind threatened to take the shelter away. He let out a sigh. Sleeping would be difficult in the cramped space, but it had been too long since he rested… Once again, he tried to place the stranger in front of him. He had his reasons for being out here, were hers as innocent as she looked?_

_The light dimmed and dark shadows leapt across the tent to spill into the corners. The Mandalorian felt his eyes go heavy. She didn’t seem so dangerous, just a strange blind woman._

~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~

The heat of the flames licked against his beskar, rolling off the armour as he leapt at the last second.

“Kriff,” he grumbled lowly as the fire spread, engulfing the rugged cantina. At the time a flamethrower seemed better than a blaster in her hands, but as he came to a stand and patted out a small flame blooming on his arm… “Be careful with that thing,” he snapped and kicked open the door at their back.

He didn’t have time to see her whip her head around, wild silver curls bouncing against her cheeks rosy from the flames. A well-placed shot was enough to stop the first hulking grey figure that charged from the door, but the second and third were on him before he could blink. He moved quick but as the second thug fell the third took his helmet in its hands – his heart stopped – and slammed him effortlessly into the door frame with a shuddering crack. There was a moment of dizzying bliss before pain cracked like lightning from the bridge of his nose and the smell of copper filled his helmet. He grunted, trying to get to his feet before the thug turned on Azree and the child she was carrying with her free hand.

Taking this job had been a massive mistake.

There was a shuffle, a thick chuckle, and pain radiating in waves as the thug kicked him hard in the helmet. If it wasn’t for the beskar he knew he would be beyond recognition. The Mandalorian rolled away from the third attack, barely escaping the heavy white boot. He shot and the grotesque body fell with a limp groan.

“Come,” he groaned, reaching out to touch her shoulder and guide her into the back room. He looked down to the small child, wrapped protectively in a shawl at her side. Their wide black eyes seemed bright and alive in the thrill of the fight, barely aware of how Azree moved so that it was shielded by both their bodies. It simply reached out to the Mandalorian and curled their ears as if sensing the Mandalorian’s pain.

They stumbled into the empty room in a rush, the cries of the approaching local gang spurring their urgency. He hissed as the helmet crashed into the wall as they all piled in, damaging his already broken nose.

“What was that?” Azree whispered sharply. For just this moment he wished she was deaf, it would have made things easier.

“Nothing,” he grumbled knowing that the modulator wouldn’t hide the nasal sound. He wished the room was big enough for him to step away from her short advance. Already his shirt felt damp and sticky with his blood and as she shifted the child in her arm to reach out to touch him, she was too quick to not feel the warm blood on her hands.

She huffed; her face so expressive without realising. Pale eyes scrunched with her brow as her fingers ran along his chest, flinching briefly at the hot beskar before finding the cloth between his armour. “Where are you hurt? Did you damage your nose?” He took her hand away from his chest and tried to step back in the small room, they would need to keep moving or risk being caught. _Why did I think bringing them would be a good idea?_

“It’s broken.”

She nodded, soft silver curls drifting over her face as she whipped her head back to the door they came from. “Can you block the other door?”

There were a few boxes that would do the trick, it was one of those ancient swing doors that opened into the room. “Yeah.”

“Good, block it. We can handle out the front,” she said shaking the flamethrower as if to check how much fuel it had left and turned for the front door.

He went to reach out to her, pull her back and tell her it was a stupid idea, but stopped short. “What are you doing?”

Azree frowned. “You need to fix your nose,” she stated as if it was obvious and vanished out the door with the child.

It took a moment to realise and he smiled through the blood.

He moved quickly, pushing a heavy wooden box underneath the handle of the door and gingerly removed his helmet. Gritting his teeth tightly he ran an arm over his sweaty brow, took the fractured bridge of his nose between his two fingers and-

“Kriff!”

The helmet returned securely to its place and he let out a steady breath through his mouth. He pushed the box out of the way and turned back for the others. For a moment he could enjoy the shape of her from behind, standing poised for action despite the darkness and unknown she faced. Maybe she had been right, that something connected them all and it was always meant to that they would meet. Maybe that’s why he didn’t want to shy away from the hot, twisting sensation climbing up through his stomach to lace around his chest.

“Will you be okay?” she asked softly, still facing the cantina.

“Yes. Let’s go.”

She nodded, holstered the flamethrower, and reached out to touch him. He took her hand and guided her into the small back room. It took some restraint to ignore the sensation of her thumb rubbing gentle circles against his. One day her touch would be the end of him.

~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~

“How are you feeling?” she asked searching for a second before easing down to sit next to him in the cockpit. The Razor Crest was greedily consuming the distance between them and the ice planet they had just left. It had been a messy job. One to add to the list of questionable worth, but he was a Mandalorian. He got the job done and got paid. No matter how hard.

“Fine,” he muttered turning to face her. A litter of bruises had erupted into raised patches of blue, purple, and black across her long tan legs. The sight made his chest feel tight. “And you?”

She fixed her unfocused eyes on him, an expectant brow raised. He huffed. “A little sore but I will live. Nothing I haven’t dealt with before.”

He watched her nod once and pull her legs up into the seat to sit cross-legged. “There’s a planet just next to this system that’s very isolated,” she started and lifted her arms above her head to stretch. Her faded blue shirt lifted with her movements and he saw the flat of her stomach, the gentle swell of her curves rising with her. Quickly he turned back to the stars swimming past them in the inky blackness and swallowed hard. “There are these hot springs in the mountains. I’ve never felt any natural beauty like this place, the way it sparkled and pulsed with energy…” she paused, pulled her arms back down across her torso.

“You want to go there,” he stated, waiting to watch her response.

Slowly she nodded. “You could rest, and it would be a good place to train the little one for a while.”

He turned to the console and punched in the change of coordinates. The smart thing would be to keep moving especially after the way the last job ended, _A few days won’t hurt_. “When did you last visit?” he asked watching her from the corner of his eye. She seemed tense, her neck held high and stiff as her shoulders curled in protectively.

“Uh, a while ago… It would have been a year after the attack.”

A silence filled the cockpit. He wanted to say something, something comforting that would put her at ease or make her laugh, but his throat felt empty. Without thinking he reached out and touched her knee, ignoring the way she jumped at the touch. Slowly she unraveled her arms from around herself and her own hand came to touch his.

“Thank you,” she whispered through the quiet humming of the ship.

~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~

She was right. The landscape was breath-taking. The rugged mountain range spread as far as the eye could see, all shades from black and grey to white with a vibrant blue sky so clear you could see the planets far away. Deep valley’s lolled to the minty green land below, thick with forests and grass lands. There was a biting cold in the air, but it was sweetly complimented by the hot sun above and the rolling steam of the hot springs.

They walked together through the thick green grass, swaying gently in a timid breeze. “Does it feel familiar?” he asked enjoying the way she tilted her head to the sky and smiled.

“I can feel the flow around me, it’s almost dizzying,” she hummed and bent to pick up the child. It squeaked with joy. “Do you feel it little one?”

Its expressive ears shook as he wriggled to be free and tottel through the grass in search of something alive to eat. She let him go. “Thank you for taking us here.”

He shrugged, rolling his shoulders as he looked around. “This isn’t a bad spot for sparing practice,” he muttered offhandedly. It was a poor attempt at hiding the warm sensation lacing around his chest when she beamed up at him. He’d been through too much of the galaxy to give in so easily to these feelings she was bringing up in him.

“Could you show me around first?” she asked still smiling, a bright gleam in her pale eyes. “I don’t want you getting frustrated when I win and walk off without me.”

He chuckled, bringing his hand up to the space between her shoulder blades. “From the ship?”

“Here’s fine. We haven’t gone far.”

They walked side by side around the clearing as he talked her through what surrounded them. The mountains in the distance and the tall prickly trees that towered high above the clearing. Taking her hand he guided it to the rough bark of the tree, enjoying the sensation of hers in his for a moment. He showed her to the pools and splashed her when she asked if he could swim. At their back a high cliff of ashen grey rock towered up to a mountain peak. She ran her hands over the stone, fingers finding the crevices. He listened as she recounted a rare piece of her past – climbing with her friends, up trees and mountains and anything in between. She explained that Jedi could jump exceptionally high and take falls that would normally kill them. It had been something she had never mastered and made her a better climber.

They walked back to the ship, his hand had slowly moved to the middle of her back and he wondered what it would feel like to dip lower to the curve of her – “Do you want to go around one more time?”

She shook her head. “I don’t think I’ll get lost,” the way she turned made his hand drag across her hip and brush against her core. He swallowed. “Pools that way, treeline that way, cliff there, a sucker who’s gonna get beat by a blind girl right here,” she finished by pushing her finger into his chest with a grin.

~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~

It had been easy for the child to be lulled into a deep sleep. The little one watched the short sparring lesson in which it became apparent that – while ferociously wild – without her powers, Azree was an average fighter. Frustrated she had moved to the little one, taking him aside to meditate and work on breathing exercises. It had been amusing at first, almost adorable how she looked with a scrunched nose and a frown burrowing into her brow as she stormed away picking up the child along her way. After listening to her training with the little one, he felt guilty for not being easy with her. She was after all, struggling to adjust without her unconventional sight.

 _I should apologise,_ he thought looking around the hangar bay and noticing her empty hammock swaying in the frosty evening breeze. He moved down the ramp and searched through the darkness for any sign of her. In the inky black of evening the land had come alive with hazy neon insects fluttering through the sky. They erupted across the sky in a display of hazy purples, blues, and greens like a flowing river of lights. The hot springs had come alive with a luminescent blue and the waterfalls in the distance shared its bright glow, cascading over inky black lines into rivers below. He saw the black outline over her body in the water and moved closer, trying to figure out how best to place his words.

She dove below, her inky silhouette disappearing beneath the clear blue water as he moved closer. He paused. His face felt hot and his stomach twisted as his groin stiffed. She emerged from the beneath the water and pushed wet hair away from her face. Now closer the softer dusty tone of her skin could be seen. The soft shape of her lean curves, the swell of her breasts and the small patch of silver hair between her legs. He saw the undeniable lines of her hourglass shape, the way those lines trailed down to her strong legs. Ashamed at watching her, he went to turn as she rolled onto her back and floated. There was a glimpse of bliss on her face as she rested, surrounded by a soft glow that almost pulsed like breathing lungs. He would have to apologise another time, one where he didn’t feel like he’d been kicked in the guts.

~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~

The morning came early and yet the night seemed to last light-years. He had tossed in the tiny bunk, barely more than a closet, too hot and cold to sleep. When she finally returned it only made everything worse. She was so much closer and so far away.

Before the sun had risen he left the Razor Crest and made his way to the spring’s edge. The brightness of the night had faded and the world seemed cast in long strokes of muted colours. Even the murky hint of a bloody sunrise seemed reluctant to break the frigid spell of evening. Certain he’d have hours before either of his two companions woke, he stripped of his armour and with his helmet on sunk into the steamy spring.

A moan escaped his lips. “Damn this is good,” he muttered sinking until the water touched his shoulders.

_Wouldn’t it be nice to feel the water over your face?_

The thought came to him as if spoken from afar and he moved without thinking to remove his helmet and lay it beside his armour. Cold air brushed against his face easing the headache that had been growing. The water around him swirled and at his fingertips he could sense a strange pulsing before he dove under. It was right. The water did feel good, it eased his sore nose and lulled his tormented thoughts. It was quiet under here, nothing more than a lulling babble of the bubbles below.

He emerged and shook the water from his eyes. Suddenly his body went rigid, his heart stopped, and a frightening sinking sensation swallowed him.

“Don’t look,” he snapped heading straight for his helmet. It was too late though; she was already nearing the edge of the pool. He watched her jump at the sound of his voice before he turned fully away.

“Dammit Mando, I’m blind,” Azree snapped before squeezing her pale eyes shut. “Does this make you feel better? I still can’t see shit!”

He paused, unsure of how to proceed. The growing silence only made things worse. “The child?” he asked, still on edge. It was foolish to be out here like this. It only took one mistake and who he was disappeared. But after last night, he wanted to feel that same bliss.

Her face softened, “Still asleep in his pod. I had a feeling you would be out here, so I made sure it would stay closed.”

“A feeling as in-“

“No,” she interjected quickly with a sharp tone. Her brows furrowed and he watched as she sunk to the ground and pulled her knees to her chest. “No, not one of those feelings,” she said softer. “Sorry I snapped.”

Painfully he let the helmet in his hands return to it’s pile by the beskar and waded towards her. As he got closer the water pooled low at his hips, teasingly so. His hands felt shaky just being so close to her, to see her unfiltered by the helmet in all of her beauty. His stomach twisted as he remembered seeing her last night, naked under the moonlight in the pools. Kriff he wanted to see her like that now.

“Don’t be,” he said softly and reached out to touch her hand. It was soft and hard at the same time, and so warm and small as he pulled it further into his. How had he never touched her without gloves before? Why had he always been so careful around her? He was an idiot. “No matter what happens, I’ll protect you.”

The hard lines of her pink lips softened into a sad smile. “You’re being foolish again, Mandalorian. You can’t make pledges like that when we don’t even know each other’s real names.”

“Din Djarin,” he said without hesitation, moving closer to the water’s edge. Her bare toes brushed up against his stomach and he watched her try to withhold a gasp. Slowly she lowered her knees from her chest, pale eyes still hidden from him as she held them tightly closed and lowered from his face. He watched the gentle warmth of a rosy blush creep up her neck to her cheeks. 

“Din Djarin,” she said softly, a nervous smile coming over her lips. With her free hand she reached out slowly to touch his chest, still wet from the warm spring water. “It’s nice to finally meet you,” she continued moving her hand up his body and traced her fingers over his scars. He leaned into her touch, surprised at how badly he wanted it, how badly he needed it. She dropped her calves into the water and edged closer yet, now only a breath away from him, and brought her other hand to run along his collar-bone. Her fingers moved to his neck and then paused on their exploration, pulling away gingerly.

“What’s wrong?” he asked seeing her features mix with nerves and excitement.

She swallowed, her chin dropping quickly to her chest. He had to lean back so they didn’t clash heads, but the sight of her poised with her legs open to him and head down made him feel a heat he hadn’t before.

“I didn’t want to overstep,” she said softly. “I know you said that no living thing could see you without your helmet on… I guess touch is a way of me seeing, if you understand.”

Din smiled, his hand cupping her jaw and with his thumb he lifted her chin towards his face. “It’s okay,” he whispered, worried he might break whatever spell had been cast over them. Her lips parted slightly, and he leaned in slowly. “Tell me your name.”

“Azrael Skylark.”

Her hand ran up along his arm, fingers quickly finding a place in the messy nest of his black locks. It felt good, almost blindingly good to have her fingers run through his hair. Their foreheads met. His nose pressed against hers. He could feel her breath brush against his lips, eager and faster than he’d expected. “Azrael Skylark,” he whispered wrapping an arm around her shoulders and moved his lips down to hers.

There was a thunderous crack. The trees bent as the shock of the ship rushing past washed over the mountain hideaway. She turned her head, lips barely brushing his. Her body had become tense instantly.

“We should go,” she said pulling away quickly. “This is definitely one of those feelings, and it’s definitely bad.”

He knew she was right, but she was also right there, practically in his arms and he was so close to kissing her. Did she realise he was naked before her? When would this ever happen again?

“Let me get dressed and I’ll guide you back,” he said trying to hide the frustration and disappointment in his tone. It looked like she might have tried to reach out for him, but he was quick to evade her touch and reach his pile of clothes.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Heyo!  
> Thanks for all the lovely kudos. This is my new favourite project!! So much so that I'm hotspotting my phone data to upload this chapter for y'all so I hope you enjoyed it!


	3. Chapter 3: Darkness

**Chapter 3: Darkness**

_Salt stained the air. Gentle lulling waves reached out to caress legs that had dangled over the bow of the boat with every deep descent. Sun, molten and hot dripped from the sky to bless their skin. Everything seemed blue and gold, like the gift of life wanted to burn her skin with its kisses. It should have felt glorious, like the world was hers to capture, instead all the warmth felt like it was sucked into the void of her chest._

_Her master came to sit next to her, his own legs going to slip underneath the railing so they caught the cool salty water with each dip of the sailboat. She stole a nervous look his way to gauge his reaction. As always – unreadable._

_“I sense your turmoil,” was all he said, eyes watching the horizon where the blue sky met the ocean. “And your fear.”_

_“I’m trying,” she said, barely above a whisper. Something was catching at her throat, maybe it was the void inside her swallowing her words. “It’s never been easy.”_

_“You have always been stronger at it than the other padawans because you have always had to work harder. Have faith in your heart young one, you have a good soul and that is what matters most.” He turned to her and smiled reassuringly. The edges of his eyes were beginning to show signs of aging past his youth, once thin lines of worry had sunken deeper over the years since he had chosen her to be his apprentice. He maintained that steady feeling of calm and safety. Nothing they had ever faced stirred fear within him, no tragedy had enraged him. That was not to say the man smiling before her was emotionless – he was vibrant in many, and while he smiled at her now, she felt his pride. It made her feel sick._

_“Master Jinn,” she started with a huff. “I was excited for this mission, but now I worry was chosen because of…” Azree paused, head sinking shamefully into her chest. “Is this journey to separate me from the others?”_

_He shook his head. “No. You have proved yourself, and that is why.”_

_“Do you regret choosing me as a padawan?” she asked feeling her heart hammering hard against her rib cage._

_“No,” he said sternly. She flinched at the steel in his voice, felt the absolute of his response wash over her like the waves crashing against the boat. “I was once like you, my emotions were chaotic, and I struggled to contain those which would lead me to the dark side,” Master Jinn continued, taking a softer tone. “I questioned the council, I questioned their teachings, I questioned the restriction of attachments and the need for clarity. To me they had all been the downfall of the order before, why clutch to what crumbled? Your curiosity is nothing to fear, young one. It is a gift. The others are not strong enough to seek out what you did. Now you must learn from it. But be careful. It takes training and time to master these emotions that lead us to the dark side.”_

~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~

Darkness swallowed them. The gentle hum of the engine droned deep in space. Everything was still aside from the gentle vibrations of the ship propelling through endless inky blackness. It was moments like this when Azree didn’t feel like she was blind, simply swallowed by the same void of night that everyone else was engulfed in. She tried to close her mind to drifting thoughts and focus instead on the calm of her meditations in the vain hope it would ease her back into sleep. Whenever she tried, she felt a whirlpool of dread dragging her deep underneath murky water, leaving her struggling for breath. It grew stronger and stronger until panic began to swell in her throat and pulse dangerously through her veins. She saw a flash of white before being swallowed by the darkness.

“Dammit,” she muttered swinging her legs over the edge of the hammock. Another bout hit her hard in the gut the moment her bare feet touched the cold. It was enough to send her staggering hard into wooden crates. There was a crash and suddenly hands were on her, guiding to steadier footing.

“Easy there,” the woman purred, all soft hands and silk. She smelt of exotic spices and seduction. “Mazra wonders, where are you rushing to at this hour?”

The drowning sensation continued, pulling at the edges of her mind. That call was undeniable. “The child needs me,” Azree replied brushing past the smuggler to where she knew the crib was. Instinct was driving her as she pushed a button on the side and gently pulled the small thing into her arms. The cool wave of calm washed over her, gingerly the panic clawing at her throat eased and she drew a deep breath. He struggled for a moment, tossing in what she could tell was a troubling sleep. She’d had those dreams, felt that feverish chill. “Shh,” she whispered bringing her lips to his forehead and whispering gentle words from pretty languages. “This too shall pass. I have you. You are safe.”

The struggles eased. Azree felt the leathery tips of his ears unfurl from their distress and felt the soft of his steady breath against her chest.

“Mazra thinks you are good with it,” the woman cooed. Azree listened to the gentle swish of fabric and smelt the intoxicating wave of spice as she drew near to stand at her side. “She wonders, are you a mother?”

Azree chuckled, running her fingers across the little one’s forehead to feel the gentle creases and thin strands of hair. “After what I’ve seen I’m not sure I could bring something into this world. You?”

“Mazra wishes for one, but she is a smuggler without a ship.” Azree listened to the soft swells of her voice, gentle like the rolling seas of a song. “She knows there is no place for a child in her life.”

Azree reached out and touched the other woman’s shoulder. “Perhaps one day.”

The strange woman said no more, but Azree felt her turn and walk away back to the small makeshift bunks that had been set up for Mazra and her sister Talia. Of the two, Talia had been the hardest to connect with. Mazra had explained when they boarded that her sister had her tongue removed by a mobster when they didn’t deliver a shipment. Talia communicated in various hand gestures and small noises. While Azree had learnt various dialects, sign lost its value when she became blind…

“Gguh,” the child grumbled stirring in her arms again.

Azree closed her eyes and moved to lean against the wall of a hangar, lowering herself until she felt the cold metal of the ground. “Breathe deep little one,” she whispered softly focusing her attention on calming thoughts. _The soft spray of the ocean. Fresh bread, warm and tender. The mist rolling over a forest. Sun. Warm and golden. Silver. His silver glow. The feel of wet curly locks. His voice, the timbre and heat of it._

She pulled herself out of it. Refocused her thoughts, steadied her breathing. “You will be better than me little one,” she said softly. _You have a gift. A healing gift._ She held him close, wrapping his blankets tighter around his little body. _You will live many of our lifetimes over, but I hope you will remember us. I hope you forgive me for my faults as a teacher, as a human. I will do what I must to keep you safe._

~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~

The Razor Crest made landing on the outskirts of a small trading port, the last before the black expanse. As the ramp doors lowered and the warm breath of the dusty planet washed through the ship Azree could hear the hub of traders, smell the strange smells of cooked food and crushed herbs. It was a sweet relief to hear life even if it was beyond the reach of sight. For the next three days they would travel through the dangerous wasteland of space, void of life and stars. It was a journey not made lightly. It made the small act of walking through a market seem more than it was.

Azree tightened the sling around her body and dropped to her knees so the child could walk into her arms. He giggled as she placed him among the fabric wrappings and indulged him when he took her finger in his own small paw.

“What are you doing?” Din asked, the sound of his boots against the ramp were followed by the flush of spices and the swish of silk.

She turned to his voice. “Going to the market. I think we could all use some time off the ship.”

He made a gruff noise, an exclamation of air that rumbled from the back of his throat. She could sense the uncomfortable tension radiating between them. “I don’t think that’s a good idea,” his voice even through the tint of the modulator.

“Why not? It sounds like Mazra and Talia are joining you.”

“I’m not going to argue with you, please just stay with the child by the ship,” he grumbled. There was a brief moment of contact, the first they’d had in a month. He brushed against her while touching the child’s head leaving a burning mark against her chest when he left. His boots hit the ground and he didn’t slow as his footsteps slowly faded into the hub of noise.

Mazra laid a soft hand against Azree’s shoulder. “Mazra wonders if there is anything she can get for you at the market?”

Azree sighed, unwrapping the cloth from around the child. “Something for the little one. It will be a long trip.”

“Mazra will. You will not be alone here, Talia will remain also,” she hummed, and her touch drifted away to almost instantly be replaced by her sister’s.

The other woman was tall, taller than Mando by any account with hands just as rugged from hard work. But she had a calmness about her that made the silence bearable. She guided Azree back into the Razor Crest and to a bundle of blankets. Her hands guided Azree’s own over the linen and wool and raised textures she could only assume was in the pattern of something.

“They feel wonderful,” Azree said with a tight tone, desperate to mask her upset but it was pointless. Her mind was frustratingly distracted on that dammed Mandalorian. By the time she was ready to admit she’d overstepped that early morning by the hot springs he’d brought the smuggling sisters on board and never given them a moment alone together. He was creating space between them, filling it with bodies and work. Was he just as frustrated from her lack of power? She’d never felt like such a burden.

Talia picked up the blankets and moved to another part of the hangar. Once again, she guided Azree’s hands over the fabric of some merchandise. Azree recognised this as clothing, silk and chiffon, but cut awfully small. “A bikini?” she asked.

“Yhga,” Talia grumbled in agreement. The woman picked it up and pushed it to Azree.

“Oh. Ahh. I don’t know if I’d use this,” she muttered feeling silly at the prospect. Talia insisted, her hand coming to tug at Azree’s shirt.

“Nghuw.”

“Sorry?”

“Nghaw.”

“You want me to wear this now?” Azree asked, her arm moving around the small child still wrapped loosely to her chest. “Why?”

Talia dropped the small pieces of clothing into Azree’s arms and moved her towards the ramp. Azree waited awkwardly as the other woman moved around. After a few moments Talia took her hand and moved it over the blankets she had laid down under the warmth of the sun.

“Oh. You want to sunbathe?”

“Yhga,” Talia mumbled. She squeezed Azree’s hand pleadingly. It wasn’t the worst idea; the sound of the port was distant, and it was certainly better than sulking. How long had it been since she had a friend she would do this with? _Too long._

“Okay. But only if you help me keep an eye on the child.”

Talia made a strange noise like happiness bubbling up from the back of her throat to rumble in her chest. It made Azree smile. Together they unstrapped the young one and let him run rampant in the hangar, then stripped into the small clothes. Azree pulled at the pants that would slide up her thighs and over the curve of her arse. The feeling so much air across her skin was foreign. Suddenly she felt nervous. What if people passed and watched? What if the Mandalorian returned and saw her?

The other woman took her hand and guided her to the blankets she had set up on the gentle incline of the ship. The sun here was gentle on the skin and it was nice to lie down next to someone, have their hand hold hers. The innocence of the act eased the hurt of being left behind. She squeezed Talia’s hand gently. “Thank you.” The other woman squeezed back.

They stayed like this for some time, Azree struggled to keep track of just how long but the sun felt harsher now. She fixated on trying to reach out to the gentle flow of the force, keeping her mind still focused. As the time passed her attempts lapsed into easy daydreams. She imagined what it would be like to return home, to see the faces she knew as a child grown. Would they welcome her? Would they welcome the child? What would they think of Din?

The sounds of footsteps approaching pulled her quickly from her thoughts. They sounded different, lighter than the Mandalorian’s but with a more erratically irregular pace to Marza’s. She rose to her feet.

“Talia, the child?”

“Mmhhm,” she murmured.

The stranger continued their approach, coming to an abrupt stop at one point before shuffling forward with their bizarre stride. “Hey-ho travelers, how goes it?” a man called.

“What do you want?” Azree called back suspiciously. She had no doubt that Talia would hold her own in a fight and if they were quick, they could close the Razor Crest and make an escape. But there was a strange odour about the man. Something intrigued her about this stranger.

He continued to approach. “Ahh, perfect. You two have clearly seen enough of the galaxy to be warry of strangers. As you can see, I’m nothing to worry yourselves. I have come to talk, oh I’m so eager to talk to someone interesting.”

Talia let out a barking laugh. The harsh sound slowed the stranger’s approach, and then he too chuckled nervously. “Oh my, what a poor choice of words on my part. I do apologise. It was never my intention to offend I simply-“

“Easy there. It’s okay,” Azree stilled hearing him finally come to a stop before the ramp. The stranger pulled something out and with a crunch of gravel and dirt came to a resting place. She lowered herself to sit on the ramp. “Local?”

“Oh yes. I’ve never left the planet. Unfortunately, I won’t ever, but I do my own share of travelling. It’s required for my apprenticeship you see…” he paused, waiting eagerly for the following question. Azree began to see that the stranger would be the only one talking.

“And what kind of apprenticeship is this?” she obliged.

The man gasped. “Oh, why if you insist. It’s only the oldest and most important order of the galaxy. You would have heard it I’m sure. We are responsible for maintaining integrity and order throughout the galaxy. It’s exciting times for us with so many forks. Oh, you both look very confused – although you have the look of someone who knows. What is your name dear? No, the blind one.”

“Azree, and this is Talia.”

“Hmm. Oh – forgive me, may I introduce myself. I am Calyoun, apprentice to the Guardian of Futures.”

Azree frowned. There had been a moment of strange hope. It had sounded almost like the Jedi Order. _That would be just too easy wouldn’t it._

“You seem disappointed,” Calyoun observed. “Have you not heard of the Guardian of Futures?”

“No,” she sighed. The soft patter of feet approached, and she let the child fall into her lap to play with the beads draping from the blanket they sat on.

The stranger gasped excitedly. “Oh, what a trio of adventurers! What a wonderful child. But let me not get distracted. You all must learn of my order. You see we read prophecies and interpret them. There are many true and false futures that we have to piece together to determine what will and won’t come to past. In very rare cases we have to guide them into being, while others are inevitable. It’s dangerous work, but our prophet has told me of a future that will come to pass. I feel it a duty to warn travelers such as yourselves.” The stranger held an air of silence and Azree felt a chill despite the heat of the day. His tone went dark, reminiscent of something terrible he’d seen. “War is on the horizon. Devastating war. There will be powers introduced into this galaxy unlike we have ever seen. I… I would make peace with your demons if I were you all. Stay together, life won’t ever be the same as we know.”

A quiet hung over the group. Numbly Azree was aware of approaching figures, she could hear the familiar footfalls gaining. “Is this not a future you can guide away from?”

“I’m afraid there are pieces that have already been placed. The only way to stop it now would be to completely eradicate the Jedi.”

Azree tightened her protective hold of the child. The footfalls were impossible to ignore now. Despite her frustration with Din, she was grateful for his timely return. She stood, pulling the blanket and the child with her.

“Thank you for your warning,” Azree said tightly and stepped away the ramp to move further into the hangar. There was an uneasy turmoil bubbling at the base of her belly making her want to vomit. She pulled the child tightly to her chest. _Will you ever be safe little one?_ For an order that only wanted to protect peace there was so much violence that followed.

She heard the distinct footfalls of his boots against the ramp, numbly aware of the swish of Mazra’s silk dress brushing past her. Azree never felt more naked and cold. “What took you two so long?” she grumbled.

He came to stand next to her and she let him take the child into his arms. There was a strange smell about them. “We…” there was a strange paused. “We, ahh, ran into a complication.”

~O~O~O~

He watched as she dropped to her knees in front of him, the soft fabric she wore washed over the sharp lines of her body. Her hard eyes outlined in the harsh lines of black and glitter were bright green and never left his face as she moved her mouth lower down his body.

“Mazra wonders,” she purred, “Does she have to wear this?”

She twirled the black piece of cloth between her fingers. “Yes,” he growled. Maybe this was a bad idea. _This is definitely a bad idea_. But he needed it so badly. He took it from her fingers and wrapped it tight around her eyes. Her dark blue fingers reached out for his pants eagerly, fumbling against the beskar.

“Does this mean you will undress for Mazra?”

He took her hands and pushed them above her head. They would have to make this, quicker than he would have liked. With his free hand he ran it over the hard lines of her body. She was beautiful in a harsh way, caused from a harsh life. He wanted this to feel good for her. So, he pulled her to a stand and undressed her, pulling at the knot that held her silk wrappings to her body and let to pool at her feet. His hand roamed over the only soft curve of her body, enjoying the feeling of her breasts in his hand. A growing urge stirred dangerously in his stomach. A warm, needy moan escaped her lips and he removed his hold of her hands to roll her nipples between his gloved fingers.

“Mmmh,” she gasped as a hand dropped to his waist, dipping dangerously close to his hard length.

He growled, one hand snaking up quickly to tug at her hair. She gasped and removed her hand. He released his hold of her hair and picked her up by her thighs, moving her to a stack of crates. Here he had all the access to her he needed. The quick gasps and heated moans that escaped her lips let him know that his touch was what she needed. Her ankles hooked around the back of his thighs.

“Please let Mazra pleasure you,” she moaned opening her thighs wider while her hands moved up to pinch at the hard-blue nubs of her nipples. “Where do you want Mazra?”

He picked up his pace, moving his focus to the hot bundle of nerves while he teased the entrance of her dripping pussy. “Hold your legs open for me and lean back,” he growled lowly plunging his fingers into her.

She bit back a moan and complied. “Yes,” she purred splitting her legs wide and threw her head back. The strong lines of her thighs quivered, and he saw the hard concentration in her jaw as perspiration began to bead against her skin. He wanted more time, more time to work on the intricacies of how to make her scream in pleasure, more time to enjoy this view. Instead of teasing her release he increased his pace, one finger teasing her ass while his other hand circled her clit.

“Yes!” she gasped pushing back against him while her body began to shudder. “Lords yes!”

He didn’t stop with her orgasm. Instead, with one hand he undid his pants and released his straining cock. The sound of his fingers driving into her wet pussy and her desperate gasps were driving him wild. Once his cock was free, he grabbed her hips and flipped her onto her stomach and lined himself up. His size had been uncomfortable for others before, so he eased in slowly, listening carefully to the noises and sounds she murmured until he was finally deep within her. He dropped one hand to the small of her back and pushed so the arch of her back made the round swell of her ass pop.

“Are you okay?” he asked, running a hand up the line of her spine to curl into the long black strands at the base of her neck.

She pulsed around his cock. “Fuck Mazra, Mandalorian.”

There was a crack as his hand went down over the round of her ass. She gasped, clutching onto the boxes in front of her for a moment before he began to pound into her. He pulled her back to his chest with the fistful of hair in his hand, rolling a nipple between his finger as she bounced back against his hard length. Wet, needy gasps and moans rolled from her dark lips spurring his pace. It felt good to feel nothing but the desperate need for release. There was no worry, no untouchable desire he couldn’t reach. The hard of her body pressed against the hard of his beskar, the soft heat of her pussy as he took her hard and fast. He wanted more time to give her everything. Then the hot ball of release began to spread through his body, sprinting closer to his finish. He pulled himself free and let her drop to her knees in front of him to finish him in her mouth.

He cleaned himself before helping her. Now covered, he removed her blind fold. Her eyeliner had smudged a little, a coy smile across her lips as she gazed up at him. Guilt hit him harder than he thought it would. _I can’t escape her._

“We should get back to the ship,” he said watching her pocket the blindfold.

~O~O~O~

“Mazra wonders is this what they are calling it now days?” she purred.

“What?” Azree asked, her head felt empty and a dull ache oozed over her. “You guys-?” she stopped short as she realized where this direction of thought was going.

There was a soft sparkle of laughter from Mazra, muted only as the Mandalorian disappeared into the cockpit. “We should get going, it’s going to be a long journey,” he said, voice fading as he vanished up the ladder.

Azree moved to her pile of clothes and pulled them on quickly. It was impossible to ignore the hushed murmurs of Mazra and the swish as they signed to each other. Azree climbed up into her hammock, wishing for a room to hide away from everyone and let the itchy sensation of betrayal inside her chest go away.


	4. Escape

_Azree opened her attack, swinging dangerously as she channeled the dark emotions that had been balled into the pit of her stomach for months into deadly strikes. Her muscles strained, begging for the full release of her abilities. The Mandalorian ducked and dived, weaving in and out of her attacks and grazing the worst of it off his beskar._

_“You can tap out at any point,” she snarled twisting away from his blaster shot with ease, deflecting the next one. It was the first shots he’d managed to fire this entire time and it was an opening that she had allowed for the sake of his pride._

_There was a chuckle that slipped through the modulator. He fired several more shots before igniting his flamethrower. Azree caught its advance through the force and instead of pushing it back at him she extinguished it in a vacuum of air, feeling its energy fuel her next advance. She was almost vibrating with eagerness. “I’m only holding back because you are,” he teased slipping past her advance as he leapt into the air and fired down on her._

_She easily deflected the blaster shots, aiming them for his beskar. “I’m only holding back because I don’t really want to kill you,” she called back, lifting her hand up and felt the force surrounding him. She squeezed and pulled towards herself, feeling his struggle against her. At the last second, he gave in and she staggered back, dropping her blade to avoid it splitting them both into two. He crashed into her, harder and heavier than she expected. The heat of his blaster pressed close to her head. Her own heat pooled between her legs._

_“Good thing I don’t want you dead either,” he chuckled against her ear._

_“Get off me you idiot,” she grumbled pushing against the hard beskar of his chest plate. “You stink of blaster.”_

_He complied, deliberately slower than necessary. “Oh, you love it,” he dismissed jumping up the last step and held out a hand for her. Azree rolled her eyes._

_“I doubt it,” she muttered and took his big paw into her hand._

_He shrugged, watching her pull her lightsaber back into her hand. “Well, it’ll grow on you. Like some bad fungus between your toes.”_

_“Eww, you’re gross,” Azree grumbled with disgust, unable to stop the grin coming across her face. They had been stranded a week on the beautiful green planet. In a week she had come to appreciate the presence of the young Mandalorian and dread the day the ship would be fixed. Sparring out in the open had been unbelievably freeing. She had all the room she needed to fight with all the ferocity she could safely muster. And she had already learnt so much from fighting the Mandalorian. He used dirty tricks and played against her emotions to test her composure, things that a rigid training regime she had grown up with were afraid to teach her. Master Jinn had an open mind, but she was often hidden from the realities of the world._

_She stretched out the satisfying aches in her muscles. “I guess we should head back,” she muttered reluctantly. They were a way off from the ship at the rocky outcrop of a cliff overlooking the vast green expanse of forest. She wanted to capture this scene and never leave it._

_“Ehh,” he shrugged off taking a seat at the edge of the cliff and dangled his legs over the edge. Suspiciously Azree eyed the long drop down into the rocky pit miles below. “You’re not scared of heights, are you?” the Mandalorian asked incredulously. “I thought Jedi were meant to be fearless.”_

_“I’m still a padawan,” she defended quickly. “And it’s only reasonable to be cautious of something that can kill you.”_

_He removed his helmet with a hiss and put it beside him, running a hand through his messy brown curls. “If you fall over the edge, I promise on the honour of my order to catch you before you hit the ground.”_

_She edged closer and took a seat at his side, slowly letting her legs drop over the edge. “Can your jet pack handle two people?”_

_He turned his head her way, a cheeky grin teasing his lips. “We’ll find out when we come to it.”_

_Azree groaned, shaking her head. “You’re impossible,” she chuckled looking away to the vast valleys below. She sensed there was something weighing on his mind, she felt the misty grey aura of his confliction brush against her._

_“The ship will be fixed soon. After we get that part, you’ll all be off.” His tone was somber, distant._

_She nodded. It was something that had been consuming her thoughts lately. It felt foolish to feel attached to the Mandalorian sitting next to her, but it felt like they had quickly formed a friendship. “You could always come with us,” she said quickly. It was impossible to ignore his eyes on her, but she couldn’t turn to face him. “You’re definitely handy.”_

_They were quiet for a long moment. The suns began to dip slowly on the horizon. It felt like a goodbye that couldn’t be voiced. She finally looked over to him, the bronze and gold melted against his mismatched beskar that had been scuffed and blackened from fights. It seemed strange to see wearied age in the eyes of someone so young. It felt unfair. He turned, catching her staring. A flush hit her cheeks, but she couldn’t look away. Slowly he leaned closer, one hand daring to reach up to cup her jaw gently. Her palms were sweaty. Her head felt faint and dizzy. What if she did it wrong? She’d never done this before. Had he? His nose brushed against hers and she closed her eyes, leaning into the gentle caress of his lips._

~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~

_Tap. Tap. Tap. Tap._

Uncomfortable silence oozed between them. He watched her from the corner of his eye, trying to stop his eyes from roaming. The silver haired witch continued to stare into the abyss ahead of them. The last few ships from the graveyard scattered in the distance. Their hulls had been shredded open, the guts of what remained tossed into the cold expanse of space. In the distance a green gas giant with several moons splintered through the darkness in hazy red shades.

_Tap. Tap. Tap. Tap._

“You seem agitated,” he finally said and regretted it instantly. They hadn’t spoken in three days, the entirety of the journey that seemed impossibly long. He’d hurt her, and she had treated him as if he was invisible.

He watched her settle deeper into the co-pilot’s seat. Her face was stony and expressionless. _Just say you’re sorry before it’s too late, admit you made a mistake and you’re an idiot._ He had never wanted to hurt her. She took a deep breath and stilled the insistent tapping of her foot. “It’s nothing. Are we coming up to a planet?”

“I don’t know how you do that,” he replied incredulously. The last of graveyard was past them now and it was time to turn to the console and pilot them to the desert moon below.

“What?”

“Know what’s going on when you shouldn’t.” He flicked off the autopilot and took control of the wheel.

She turned to watch him, her pale eyes knowing and disappointed. It made him feel itchy with guilt. He was certain she could see right into his soul and witness all the bad things he had ever done. And he done some bad things. She didn’t look away until he was about to open his mouth and apologise, to try and convince her he had changed. “I’m not being left behind again,” she stated sternly and kicked her feet up onto the dashboard. She stretched out lazily. It made his chest feel tight.

“We’re not interfering with their trade. Once we land, we drop the sisters and their cargo, take our payment and keep going.” He’d had enough of it, seen enough of them. He was ready to go back to their trio; he missed their strange family dynamic. He wanted space and time to make things right again with Azree. Five was too many.

“Have you ever been this far out?” she asked. There was a tightness in her tone that betrayed her stony expression.

“No.”

“They say there’s a hidden Sith planet out this way, somewhere hidden away. I don’t think a lot of people come here if they can help it.”

They approached the yellow moon. It looked inhospitable judging by the large sandstorms that raged below. Their handover would have to be quick to avoid its violent grasp. He flicked on the coms. “We’re beginning our approach.”

~O~O~O~

The sand kicked up around the Razor Crest, digging into the crevices between his armour and clothes. By the end of the interaction he was sure to have sand in places he shouldn’t. He watched as Mazra grew increasingly desperate, the Klantoonian she was dealing with was unwavering in her stance. The thick folds that split to form a triangle around her mouth splintered into a shuddering smile full of thick sharp teeth and no lips.

_“You need to go to the other moon,”_ the Klantoonian growled in a brutish language.

“Mazra was told here, not the Kazaroon moon.”

“ _Well then Mazra was told wrong. The other moon, or no payment._ ” The Klantoonian turned sharply pulling a scarf over their dark patchy skin as they braved the fringes of a giant sandstorm.

He watched Mazra sigh, her sharp shoulders hunched as Talia took her hand in her own. As if sensing his gaze, Mazra turned. Bright green eyes sad for a heart-breaking moment before they hardened. “Mazra has another deal for you, Mandalorian,” she started and swayed closer. The cloud of spices that followed made his head pound. “It seems we need to go to the other moon, Kazaroon.”

“The deal was to drop you and the cargo here,” he said watching her falter for a moment.

“Mazra knows.”

“I’ll do it for an additional 25%,” he said folding his arms over his chest.

She frowned and Talia stormed forward threateningly. “ _That would make it 50% in total!”_

“Exactly. There is obviously something suspicious about this. I haven’t asked any questions, but I want to be paid in full for the threat we’re going to be facing.”

The tall woman in front of him was furious, he could see the dark black veins bulging from her throat and her sharp blue brow deepened. “ _30% total,”_ she signed. “ _And we won’t tell anyone about the Jedi onboard.”_

He instantly tensed, one hand going to rest on his blaster. “Talia,” Mazra hissed.

“ _There are people who want the end of the Jedi. We heard so just three days ago. It would be a shame if something were to happen to your “friends.”_

There was no bluff. The sisters had dealt with the violent life of the outer rim and the dark look in Talia’s eyes was enough to make his skin feel prickly. He could hear Azree in the cockpit above laughing with the child. He knew she was far from innocent, but he wanted to protect them both just as fiercely.

“ _I liked her, please don’t make me hurt her.”_

With a growl he closed the ramp door, a gust of sand entered the hangar. It signaled his grudging agreement. He wondered if he left them here, would they survive long enough to tell anyone? “If you speak of them to anyone, I will find you, and I will kill you,” he threatened darkly.

He turned and headed up into the cockpit. _This is a bad idea,_ he thought jumping into the pilot’s seat and quickly pulled the Razor Crest into the air. It was going to be a bumpy ride outrunning the sandstorm. “Buckle up,” he said sternly, not stealing a glance at her or the child.

“What’s going on?” she asked bringing the child closer to her as she pulled the belts across her chest.

“There’s been a change of plan.”

“But you said-“

“I know what I said,” he interjected. “There’s been a complication-“

“Oh, another one of those,” Azree snapped snidely.

He gripped the steering wheel tighter and ground his teeth. The ship shuddered and dropped dangerously low as a violent gust of air created a vacuum. Then it leapt, propelling forward at a violent speed hurtling towards space. The sand tearing at the exterior of the ship sounded like millions of tiny blaster shots. Silently he prayed they would get out of here quickly. There was an unnerving urgency that consumed his mind. This was unnecessarily dangerous.

“Where are we going?” she asked suddenly. He turned to face her. _Does she look scared?_

“The Kazaroon moon,” he said turning back to his instruments. They had now been engulfed by the sandstorm. There was no visibility, his instruments were his only eyes. The child made a nervous cooing noise, ears curling as he held his small paws in front of his eyes.

“Shh. I feel it too little one,” Azree said and brought her lips to his forehead.

“What?” Din growled, sparing another glance to his strange companions. If their unnatural senses were picking up on something he wanted to know about it.

They finally broke free of the sandstorm and were thrust into space at hurtling speeds. He let out a nervous sigh of relief. The still of space surrounded them. The other yellow moon eased slowly over the horizon. He turned to his attention back to his companions. Azree was already undoing the belts across her chest. She had that still face, void of anything other than neutral. He’d seen it a lot during their first meeting whenever danger was around. He only associated with bad things.

“Dammit,” he growled. _How do I get out of this?_

“This is something that has to happen,” she said softly and put her hand on his shoulder. Her voice sounded trance like, but it dripped with empathy. The child rested in the crook of her arm. “But it is something that scares the child.”

He turned to the small little creature. Big dark eyes seemed sad and he reached out to him. Din put the ship onto autopilot and came to stand next to Azree. “I’m not going to let anything happen to either of you,” he said bringing his hand up to touch the back of the little one’s head. “I promised I’d protect you, we both did,” he continued softly to the child. “And I promised you as well.”

She leaned into his touch as he ran a hand up along her arm to rest at her shoulder. “We should get ready for the drop off.”

“I want you both to stay up here,” he urged.

The moon was fast approaching. The pressure at his throat continued to press against his mind. He wanted to take off his helmet and kiss her. It was an urge he’d never felt so strongly before. He wished he could ignore it and focus on the job about to come. Instead he swallowed hard and turned back to the console, taking control of the ship as they began to enter the atmosphere. The moon seemed strikingly similar to the previous. Barren and sandy. He brought the Razor Crest down next to a small settlement that seemed abandoned. It was the coordinates he was given from the Klantoonian.

“Stay here and don’t come down,” he warned leaving the engine rumbling. He checked the blaster at his hip as he swiveled around the chair and walked to the door of the cockpit. Figures began to emerge from the settlement, cloaked in sandy hoods.

“Din,” Azree said softly, catching his attention instantly. “Be careful, please.”

With a smiled, “Always,” he lied and quickly made his way down to the hangar. The sisters had already opened the ramp and they were moving some of the product down to the desert floor. The hunched hooded figures were moving quicker than he anticipated, quickly consuming the ground between them effortlessly.

“Let’s make this quick ladies,” Din said staying at his post in front of the stairwell up to the cockpit. As long as he held this spot no one would come or go without his knowledge.

_“Do you have somewhere to be?”_ Talia signed sarcastically. She leaned against two of the large crates, easily a head taller. Despite having the same dark blue skin tone, the sisters couldn’t have been more different. While Mazra seemed open and alluring Talia seemed violent and closed. He knew which one he’d rather have fight with him. He undid the buckle to his blaster holster and teased the hilt.

The hooded strangers arrived with a gust of wind. Silently they approached, nodded to Mazra and then proceeded to tap at the creates. Similar to the Jawa’s, these strangers revealed nothing of their faces or bodies. Clad in sandy cloaks, there were strange bones sown along their front that jingled slightly with each step. They were tall, similar to that of Talia’s stance, but broader with an unnatural roll in their strides. Thick spikes split from the hump of their back and were the only hint of what might be hidden beneath. One moved past Talia and Mazra into the hangar. Din tried to resist the urge to shudder as its hidden claws ran over the wood, splintering it until the contents were revealed. It sniffed.

The others did too.

“Mazra wants you to know these are the finest crystals,” she said stiffly. It was obvious her façade of strength and confidence was crumbling in the presence of these strangers. His fingers twitched towards the blaster at his hip and he wished that Azree had her full abilities. “They will serve you well.”

The creature inside the hangar turned, the spikes along their back twitched as it lifted its hooded head towards the hammock. The air felt electric. It sniffed.

The others did too.

“Are you here to make a deal or not,” Din said satisfied with his imposing tone. The stranger turned to look at him.

The others did too.

It felt wrong. _This is no trade; we need to get out of here._

Without hesitation the blaster was in his hand and he fired. But the thing was already on him. He felt a thousand stings tearing through the spaces between his beskar as he was propelled against the far wall. He felt its hot rotten breath against his neck. His vision was filled with the strange bones and a black expanse where a face should be. “The child,” it howled, long sharp teeth snapping against his helmet.

“The Child,” the others howled too.

There was a shudder throughout the ship and the sound of blasters ricocheted in his ears. Summoning his strength, he fired up at the creature and pushed it away from him. It leapt away and squealed with joy, swinging its cloak before charging out of the hangar at a violent pace. Din’s head felt thick. The world was growing dark too quickly. Something thick and copper was spilling from his arms and he felt sick in his stomach. _Poison._

He closed the ramp, Talia and Mazra standing with blasters poised. Vaguely he saw them signing erratically to one another, but it was too blurry for him to comprehend. Something about the creatures taking someone? _Something_? “I need to get us out of here,” he groaned struggling to make his way up the ladder and into the cockpit. Mazra was shouting in the hangar below. Something about staying. He took his seat, setting coordinates to orbit before he let the darkness consume him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey everyone! Thanks for all the love. This was going to be one chapter, but it turned into like a 7,000 word marathon so I'm splitting it up. Both of them I wrote roughly very early on and so obviously, I'm pretty excited about both of them. Hope you enjoy.


	5. Fallen

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> FYI, this chapter gets quite graphic. If that sort of stuff doesn't vibe with you let me know and I can cut out all that gross stuff, leave you with the good bits, and send it your way :)
> 
> I also want to give a shout out to alt-J and their song"Bloodflow" (the SARM Acoustic version) which was the music juice that filled chapter 4 & 5\. 
> 
> Enjoy!

**~O~O~O~**

_When the Mandalorian woke it was with a violent start and the high pitch ringing of fear clutching at his chest. The small tent was empty, Azree and the child were nowhere to be seen._

_“Kriff,” he cursed, quickly crawling through the small entrance and into the hazy morning sun. Just as she had said, the storm had passed. The sand smelt thick with copper and looked the colour of rusted blood. As far as the eye could see red sand dunes shifted in shades of scarlet, copper, and gold under the growing molten sun._

_A giggle made him turn sharply._

_“Easy, deep breaths remember.”_

_He turned seeing her dressed in strange white robes, the saber at her hip. The child was skipping stones across the sea of sand using the force. She turned to Din with her bright blue eyes twinkling. He thought he could see constellations of stars in the sparkling white flecks that rippled through their blue depths. “Are you okay Din?” she asked stepping forward. He jumped when her hand moved up to cup his cheek._

_“What’s going on?” he asked, surprised at the way her eyes searched his. “Your eyes.”_

_“But this is what you wanted,” she replied softly. Stepping on tippy toes she brushed her lips against his cheek. It felt cold. “I need you to wake up and leave me,” she said pulling away with a smile. “I promise you’ll both be fine.”_

_“What?” His mind raced. The ringing in his ears grew._

_“Don’t follow me. Let me go.”_

_“Azrael,” he said taking her hands. Why was she so cold? “Please, no – what are you doing?”_

_“You need to go.”_

~O~O~O~

Pain erupted through her body, tearing at every fibre of her being. She would have screamed, but her voice had gone raw. She would have cried but nothing could form in her dry eyes. A thousand hot pinpoints of pain stabbed into her back before they ran down, shredding the flesh from her skin. Hot sticky blood ran down her legs to pool at her bare feet, making it impossible to stand.

“The child,” the creature growled biting at a loose piece of her skin. It tore the piece away with a violent shake of its head and she tried to cry out. “Where is the child?”

It had only been a day, an impossibly long day. The sun and sand had bit into her skin during the day, and at night they had tossed her into some stone pit of an arena. The cold had frozen her joints, stolen her energy. And when she thought she could fight no longer they had set endless rounds of savage, scaly creatures on her. They had bitten and scratched her while she listened to the foreign screams of joy and roars of their excitement. She wanted to still her mind, she was trying to compartmentalise the pain and horror. Every time she tried; she was paralysed with fear. She could hear the Reavers tearing her companions apart alive. The memory rushed to the front of her head, swelling until their screams became her own. But this creature behind her was something created in a hell worse than she had ever encountered.

“Have you heard the prophecies?” it growled, chewing loudly on the strip of flesh. Her flesh. It towered above her, sending blood and wet chunks down into her hair. The rotten stench of its breath rolled over her. The beast’s sharp teeth cracked as it chewed eagerly. “There will be war, and we will be free. A child with the powers of the force will be sacrificed to darkness, and free us. Where is the child? We can smell it on you, the stench of it. Once you tell us we can eat you and you will not feel pain anymore. The child. Where is the child?”

“I will never tell you,” she croaked, biting back another soundless scream as it pushed her into the ground, snapping the bone in her right arm in the process. The floor sticky with blood and moss pressed against her face as it crawled on top of her, crushing the air from her lungs.

“There is one way,” it howled pushing her head further against the ground. The moss and blood gave way to solid stone. Her heart hammered, certain that any moment her skull would crack and surely that would be the end. Her lungs burned for breath. Between the violent hammering beats of her heart she felt a calm pool. Somewhere underneath the earth there was stillness. Her body went numb. Gingerly she reached out to touch the still pool of energy.

 _“Hello Azrael,”_ the voice called alluringly. A wave of cool washed over her as the thing chained her hands roughly behind her back. She was vaguely aware of her legs being bound in chains. It felt like her body had been disconnected.

“No,” she growled with as much strength as she could muster. The creature struck her between the shoulder blades, digging its claws into already raw flesh. _I won’t give in._ It lifted her by the chain connecting her wrists to her ankles, making the broken bone in her arm tear through her skin. She gasped, wishing for hot wet tears to wash away the blood and dirt caked onto her face. It carried her without care, out of the burning sun and into the cool of the stone arena. She recognised it from the previous night, the echoing calls of the creatures made her shudder. There was something unnatural about them. They didn’t seem like something evolution made, they seemed created and cursed from evil itself.

_“Azrael.”_

She shook her head to free herself of the siren. There was something itching to be set alight. A dark well of energy flowed beneath the surface, washing against her skin in temptation. She wondered if she could reach in and not be dragged under. Would anything ever be worth it?

The creature tossed her to the ground and pushed her onto her knees. She heard him connect her chain to something that wouldn’t give when she tested it gingerly against her weight. It growled at her before walking away. The chatter and growls went silent. A chill rippled through the air. She heard something sniffing, the silent shuffle of bodies pressing into the arena. How many were watching her right now? Did they think she was weak or strong because of the state she was in?

More were returning, she could hear the commotion ricochet across the dank walls. The scrape of metal against the concrete. Their roar of celebration sickened her stomach. What poor soul had been beaten like her? _Please don’t be Din._ She flinched as they began to bang against the walls and floor, shaking her body as the sound grew to a cacophony.

“Give up the child now,” one growled in its guttural accent. She shivered at the spittle that sprayed down onto her exposed back and into the raw streaks of deep cuts. “Or you will wish you had.”

The floor shuddered. _How many are here? Hundreds?_ One of them grabbed the chain and pulled her shoulders back. It sent a blinding flare of pain up her broken arm and into to her core. It was barely enough to bite back the bile burning against the back of her throat. She heard the slack run from a shackle at the floor and felt the cold damp iron wrap tightly around her neck. A roar of approval rocked the room as it tightened around her neck. “TELL US!”

“Never,” she croaked sensing the cold sirens call, washing against her feet like waves.

_Let us in._

“No.”

Azree cried out as hot liquid was tossed over her back, seeping deep into the lashes lacing her back. It seared like no sun could ever.

_We can help._

“No.”

The chain tightened. The room roared. “Not even to save your Mandalorian?”

She went cold.

“If we were more patient, we would give you your sight back before we did this,” the creature growled dropping their head to her shoulder in order to graze his teeth over her skin, humming low in approval.

There was the scrape of metal, the desperate struggle of someone – exhausted, wounded, lost – fighting for the last shreds of their life. Her heart leapt to her throat. This life, the way of his Mandalorian creed, was all that he had known. Would they remove his helmet or kill him? Wasn’t removing his helmet as much a death sentence as a blade or blaster. Without it would he…

_We can save him._

“Mando?” she called, voice torn and ragged.

The beast released the chain from her neck and tossed her across the floor. They collided, hard beskar crashing into her temple as she struggled to find balance. She slid, her face dropping into his lap as he leaned over her and pressed the check of his helmet against her own. His breathing was short and pained through the modulator. “I’m sorry,” he managed through barred teeth. Hot tears she thought had deserted her now threatened to spill into his lap. _Why did you come for me?_

There was sharp pain, the fist curled into her hair couldn’t care less about scalping her as she was pulled away.

“DON’T TOUCH HER! Let her go.”

The room shuddered, a chaotic rumble like the thick of a storm. She could feel the electricity tickle her skin and mask the pain that had been embedded into every nerve of her body.

_We can save you all._

“It is time. Tell us where the child is, this one with the force that will ignite the temple and begin the prophecy! TELL US or we will remove his helmet so he can watch as we eat you alive.”

“You don’t have to do this,” Din cried out desperately. “Let her live, take me instead!”

She shuddered as they brought her shackles in front of her. She wanted to fight, but with what strength? Sharp claws touched her hands, moving over them so they reached out to Din’s helmet. They struggled; her heels dug into the ground to push away – but the creature was too powerful for her.

“Don’t fight this,” it growled next to her.

_Let us in._

“Azrael!” Din called through the pain, panic pulsing from his body.

Thunder rolled. The very earth shuddered as the cacophony of chaos was hushed to silence. She felt the cool blue energy touch her fingertips. The dark well of power surged through her veins and with the roll of thunder the air exploded in light. Hot volts of lightning erupted from her touch and the room became a blaze of blue and screams. She felt their pain, their maddened panic as the electricity tore the limp flesh from their bodies, melting their ghoulish features into clumps of wax and bundles of fire. The blackness was being washed away to be replaced with neon brightness. She was cleansing this place of their filth and terror. They could not run from her. They could not escape her. She was wrath.

“I am one with the force,” she whispered feeling her rage cool into indifference. The room was still, and then softened until there was nothing but his presence.

She opened her eyes and saw him.

Her heart hammered wildly at the sight of him, so bright and silver. He seemed so strange, foreign and beautiful in all his sternness. His hands twisted at the helmet on his head and there was a hiss as the pressure seal broke. “No, stop,” she said reaching out with her left hand to touch his own. Worried he wouldn’t listen she closed her eyes quickly. Her voice strained painfully to lift above a ragged whisper. “I can see.”

There was a clatter as his helmet hit the ground and then his hands – his bare hands – were running up her neck to cup at her check. “There’s something I need to do first,” he whispered, and she felt him lean in, his forehead pressed against hers before his lips dropped to hers. A gentle moan slid from the back of her throat as his lips caressed hers. He started soft and quickly grew eager, melting into the touch of her sore hand in his thick curls. Her lips parted and he brushed his tongue against her own sending shivers across her skin. Without pulling away he brought a hand around her shoulders-

“Ow!”

“Azrael?”

“My… My ahh,” she let herself fall into his body, head dropping into the crook of his neck. He went tense and she tasted the fire of rage and thickness of guilt rolling off him in waves. It made her stomach feel weak at the darkness she had allowed in. “Din. I’ve done something terrible,” she croaked out coughing painfully and wishing for something to cradle her broken limp arm.

“Not as terrible as those beasts,” he growled lowly. Without the modulator she could hear the way his voice flowed and ebbed, dripping in anger that made her chest hammer. She wished it was always this way, that she could hear his unfiltered voice. But then he would never be safe.

“It doesn’t…” she paused, swallowing painfully. “… Work like that. That was the... What if I… If I…” gentle sobs racked her body as the trauma crashed against her. There would be no hiding from it. She remembered the sleepless nights after the Reavers attacked. She’d been terrified, blind, sick with survivors’ guilt – that she was glad it had been her master and friends instead of her. If only she had known the price of survival.

“We need to get back to the ship,” Din said kissing her cheek, kissing up the side of her face up to the corner of her eye and at the crown of her head. He lifted her chin and kissed her lips, chaste and full of warmth. In the dread that consumed the pit of her chest she felt hope. “I need to patch you up, come on,” he said softly and then his touch left her. She waited as he placed on his helmet and gently helped her onto unsteady feet. Everything felt like fire and hurt so intensely that it was a miracle she didn’t pass out.

“Wear this,” he said holding her with one hand before something thick wrapped around her front. She recognised it as his cape. It felt surprisingly light and when it brushed against the scratches across her torso she realised that her shirt hadn’t survived the night. He tied it around the back of her neck so her shredded skin would be free of irritation. She pulled it close to her body, letting the scent of him shroud her.

They edged out of the arena and into the unforgiving hotness of the sun. “You can open your eyes,” he said.

She swallowed thickly and shook her head. “I don’t want to see,” she croaked feeling hot tears underneath her lids. It was red, but not from any aura. _It’s been sixteen years since I saw the sun._ It felt all too much to deal with. They walked in silence, his body supporting hers as much as he could without hurting her more than necessary. She let herself be distracted by the soft tingling sensation his lips had left on hers. _Time works in bizarre ways;_ she couldn’t help but think.

He went still beside her.

“What is it?”

“Stay here,” he said slipping away from her. She staggered and her knees burnt as she fell forward into the biting sand. The distinct sound of his boots hitting the ground vanished as he leapt into the air and began to fire his blaster. Her body went stiff, reaching out she sensed the presence of the child and Talia in the distance. There was another – _A stranger?_ It had the echo of a memory. _Where is Mazra?_

Gritting her teeth, she pushed herself to a stand and fell into an unsteady jog. _This can’t be worse than what I’ve gone through,_ she thought stilling her mind as she prepared to fight with what little she had left. The only reason Din would have left her like that was if the child was in danger. Her heart thundered, but she wouldn’t let fear in.

Blaster shots burnt the ozone in the air. She could hear the ringing as their shots were absorbed by the beskar. Talia was making loud howling noises, muted in her mouth. There was heartbreak in her cries. Azree bit into her lip and pushed her exhausted legs harder, her mind was reaching out for the familiar sensation of her lightsaber, it consumed her conscious until the violent pain dimmed. Then her foot caught against something, she tripped, sand filled her mouth. She coughed, pushing back with a cry of pain and onto her arse as a hot blaster shot hit the ground where she had been. Her eyes flung open and for a moment she was blinded by the unbearable sun. _How did anyone ever live like this?_ She thought scrunching them closed, before slowly easing them open. There was a clash, the violent clang of beskar against beskar before the threatening presence of two bodies crashed towards her.

Azree scrambled away from the fabric that had caught her foot, sandy in colour with hot melted oil oozing from inside. It was barely enough, her broken arm pulsed painfully, and she was blinded by the hot sun. Din and the stranger crashed into the sand just inches from her, spraying her agitated wounds with grit and sand. She needed her lightsaber, she needed it now. Prying her eyes open she saw the other Mandalorian looking right back at her. A hum rumbled as her lightsaber flew through the air and into her outstretched hand. She couldn’t look away from the stranger as he tilted his head at her. 

“Azrael,” the strange Mandalorian asked.

It was too late for him; Din emerged from behind and had his blaster pressed up into the vulnerable padding of the stranger’s neck.

“Wait!” she cried out pushing the two of them away from each other. The effort made her double over and empty what little was in her stomach into the sand. She struggled to recover as the two Mandalorians tumbled across the sand in opposite directions. The stranger recovered quicker and Azree was vaguely aware that he came crouch in front of her, blaster poised towards Din.

“Easy there Mando,” the stranger called in a deep voice, slick with an easy drawl. “What do you want with this woman?”

Din stood slowly, Azree looked up and saw his intimidating form walk forward. “I won’t let you take them,” he growled pulling a Viroblade from thin air with an angry shake of his arm. The action dripped with the intention of ruthless violence.

“Well I can’t let a bounty hunter with no morals take _them_ either,” the stranger snapped. He shot, but it rolled off Din’s beskar. It didn’t slow his terrifying approach. The sun flashed vibrantly against the bright silver of his armour. Azree wondered for how many this had been their last sight in life.

“Stop, both of you,” Azree groaned feeling her head grow light. “I know him.”

Din faltered in his step. The Mandalorian in mismatched beskar stole a nervous look at her. “You remember me?” he asked, sounding hopeful despite the metallic ring of the modulator.

She nodded, swaying on her knees. “You taught me how to fight dirty, Quin…” she croaked. His name washed away with her frail voice, but she remembered the moment he first told her. _Quintin. My first kiss._

He looked to Din once as if assessing the risk, before sheathing his blaster and kneeling in front of her. “After I heard what happened to the Sympatico I looked for you. I should have been there to fight with you,” he said quickly. She sensed the darkness that shrouded him. Almost within seconds his hands were on her, he tossed his gloves away and reached out to brush away the sand that had clumped against her face with the blood and mud. A thumb ran over the line of her jaw. It was an intimate touch, one that made her feel safe, and uncomfortable in the presence of others.

She leaned back onto her heels, but couldn’t leave his touch. It had been sixteen years since she last saw him, she’d barely been above a child, but he’d stayed in her memories when she was alone and scared. “Nothing you could do… There were so many.”

“And your eyes,” he continued softly. She could hear the surprise in his voice. “They have galaxies in them...”

“What happened here,” Din growled brushing up against Quintin, enough to knock his hands from her face. No longer tethered she swayed and collapsed into Din’s leg. He picked her up, still holding the blaster in his hand, trailed loosely towards Quintin.

The other Mandalorian turned his head, there was a slight tilt. She could sense his frustration. “They were attacked,” he said simply. “I got here too late to save the woman, but they both put up a good fight. If you knew what you were doing you would have never come in contact with those demons.”

Azree blinked, her eyes poorly adjusting to the hot shifting vision of the desert. She could see the dark blue shape in the sand, Talia crouched next to it as she sobbed. “The child?” Azree asked feeling her chest begin to pound furiously. Her throat was too torn to speak, “Where?”

“Safe,” Quintin continued. He moved to her other side. “They wanted him, didn’t they?” she felt sick in her stomach. For a moment she was certain everything went black. “Why?”

“Help Talia burry a grave for her sister,” Din said sweeping her legs out under her. It hurt and the sensation made her head swim, but everything was fading away at the fringes.

“I need to know why they did this to her,” he growled.

“No. You don’t,” Din stated lowly and brought her into the shade of the Razor Crest.

“don’t leave me,” she croaked holding out a hand. Thick fingers fumbled with the weight of her saber. Someone took it from her. The world grew darker. Her body pulsed. There was a warm aura approaching, calm but worried. It felt like the ground was rushing up towards her. A young green creature looked at her with wide black eyes. He reached out and she felt the warmth of unconsciousness swallow her, the pain, everything. For the first time she was glad of the void inside of her, swallowing everything.


	6. Give & Take

The was darkness before, and then there was darkness after. For a dazed moment everything felt like a dream, disconnected from light or reality it felt like waking up submerged miles underneath the ocean. There was a distant ringing, growing more and more urgent as the last dregs of slumber left her. Pressure began to swell in her head, she frantically clawed at the walls as panic set in. The halls of the Simpatico were silent… too silent. They were hunting her. _Razor Crest. You’re on the Razor Crest._ Or was it a coffin? In this darkness it could have been anything.

Ignoring the pain that laced through her body like fire, she ran her left hand over the walls of the small cubby. She hit something and a door opened at her feet. The dim light of evening submerged the hangar in silver. She scrambled out, hissing at the pain pulsing behind her eyes. Everything hurt. Her back throbbed mercilessly and the cast on her right arm did nothing to contain her desire to chop it off to stop the agony. She pushed herself onto unsteady feet and stumbled to the far wall as her head swam desperately for the surface.

There were steady footsteps approaching. She turned her head slowly to him, watching as he jumped the last few steps of the ladder and prowled closer. His gloved hands took hers and she let herself be pulled into his arms.

“How did you know?” she croaked through a dry and cracked throat.

“I don’t know… I just had a feeling,” he said sweeping her off her feet. She groaned as he carried her back to the cubby that was his bed. “You shouldn’t be up yet.”

“How long have I been out?” she grumbled following the lines of his helmet. It seemed impossible to look away from him now her painful eyesight had returned. There was a pool of desire that heated her core whenever she saw him. When she had only his aura to go off it his voice and gentle manner with her had been enough to make her desire him. Now she could see him, and she never wanted to look away.

“About a day. Between me and the child we managed to stabilize you, but you need rest.”

“Stabilize me?” she said skeptically. “How bad was it? Wait, what happened to Quintin and Talia? Is the little one alright? He shouldn’t be using too much of the-“

“Easy, easy,” he hushed and came to sit next to her on the lip of the bed. His hand slipped into hers, making her heart hammer. After a moment he pulled it away and removed the fabric. Seeing what he was doing she quickly looked away, pulling her eyes tightly closed. “It’s okay,” he said softly, and his skin brushed her own. “I promise.”

Slowly his fingers ran over her left hand, across the lines of her palm before easing between her fingers. His touch was soft and careful like he was handling glass. Tough callouses edged the tips of his digits and bundled at the base of his long fingers. She pried her eyes open and looked from his visor down to his hand wrapped around hers. His hands were a dusty tan, the only hint of what he might look underneath all that armour. The small gesture of trust felt extremely intimate. “Din,” she whispered softly.

“Yes?”

She opened her mouth to say something but struggled to order the thoughts racing through her mind. _Why are you like this now I can see? What does this mean? Why did you come back for me – and are we responsible for another war – and by we, I really mean me._ “Could you stay with me? I keep having nightmares.”

He nodded, his hand squeezing hers gently before helping her ease back towards the two thin pillows. In the half light she saw how he looked sprawled across one side of the bed, the lean length of his body as he reached around to close the small door. They were enveloped in darkness so impenetrable she forgot her eyes weren’t closed. She tried not to hiss as his hard armour caught her bandages and brushed against her bruises.

“Sorry,” he said softly. “Are you sure you want me-“

“I don’t think I can be alone after what happened,” she blurted out, dropping her head into her chest. “You make me feel safe.”

He was quiet for some time. They lay stiffly next to each other, almost afraid of touching, almost afraid of breathing. She felt foolish at her sudden tension, so reminiscent of a naïve youth and rushed stolen kisses in dark corners. Slowly his hand returned to hers, easing the anxiousness between them.

“Can I take off some of this armour?” he asked quietly. She could sense how nervous he was.

“Ahh-“

“I didn’t mean-“

“Yes.”

“Yes?” he asked lowly.

She nodded. “If you’d be more comfortable…”

Slowly he reached down and slowly began unbuckling something – _a belt?_ There was a moment as he brushed against her while he removed his pants, she felt his bare leg against her own followed by a loud clunk as something hit the floor. She heard the hiss of his helmet being removed and her chest hammered nervously. He sat up and began removing the infinite pieces that made up his shirt and chest armour. _How can he possibly deal with this much on all the time?_ She thought impatiently.

“How often do you take everything off?” she asked quietly hearing another clatter of pieces as he placed them on the ground.

His hand moved to hover over her side, gliding up to run along the length of her arm and run through the hair at the nape of her neck. She hummed in approval and leaned into his soothing touch. “Not often,” he said softly. “Not everything anyway.”

His bare leg brushed against her own and a hot ball of desire clenched at her stomach. The connotation sent her mind spinning. Gingerly she reached out and touched his bare chest. _Is he naked?_ She wondered daring to run her hand down and then along his side to his hip. His bare hip.

“It must be nice,” she said breathlessly. Quickly her hand moved up to run along the curves and bumps of his strong arms. “Are these scars?” she whispered genuinely surprised by the violent scattering across his arm.

“Hmm. There’s a few of those,” he said absent minded.

He moved into her touch. She could feel the warmth of his breath against her neck. A shiver ran up her spine and she inched closer. In the darkness she remembered the first time she felt the hard angle of his jaw, the roughness of a beard shadowing his features.

“What happened?” she asked feeling her way up to his shoulder where there was a dent. She was close enough to reach out and brush her lips against it, the idea hummed wildly in her mind.

“This one? Training accident,” he said as his fingers worked their way gently across her sore scalp. The moan of approval slipped from her lips before she could help it and she heard the gentle roll of a quiet laugh spill from his lips. She smiled, enjoying the way his warm tone rippled across her cheek. “I was a little cocky and it got the better of me.”

Din had somehow gotten closer; she could feel him just centimeters away from her. It burned her skin having him so close but not touching her. His fingers gently spread from the nape of her neck and tilted her face up to his. “I really want to kiss you,” he whispered lowly.

The timbre of his voice shot through her like a volt. Unlike before she could hint the softest of an accent she didn’t recognize. Azree squirmed, desperate to feel his skin against hers. “Please,” she pleaded.

He dipped his head and placed a soft kiss against her forehead. She pushed herself further into his chest and arched her neck. His lips moved down to her cheek and then to the line of her jaw. “Din,” she moaned feeling him twitch against her thigh. The hot volt within her burned, melting everything into lava. The pain didn’t matter, she needed him.

“Patience,” he breathed against her ear, before bringing the lobe between his teeth.

She hummed into his neck, placing hot needy kisses along the sensitive lines. He moaned into her ear and she melted. “Dammit, how can you say that?” she growled running a hand through his locks before trailing her nails down the hard muscles of his back. “I need you.”

His hand slipped from her hair and gripped her jaw. Eagerly his lips found hers, crashing against hers passionately. She moaned against his mouth, heart swelling as she felt his smile grow between each hot strum of their lips against each other. “You have no idea what you do to me,” he gushed pulling away for the briefest of moments before his lips found hers again.

The hand cupping her jaw stayed, guiding her head as he deepened the kiss. A free hand roamed, moving down over the loose shirt she wore – his – before slipping underneath. His large hand splayed against the hard of her stomach, slipping across to grip her waist as he rolled his body against hers. She gasped in pain and pleasure.

“Are you okay?” he asked, instantly removing himself from her.

Cold washed against her flushed skin. The absence of his touch left her head spinning. “I’m fine.”

“Azree,” he started.

“Din, if you stop now, I swear I’ll murder your arse,” she growled desperately. “I don’t think you know what _you_ do to me.”

He chuckled, an easy low rumble that brought his chest against her own. Gingerly his lips returned to her and his hands worked on unbuttoning the large shirt button by button. _Gods he’s a tease,_ she thought trailing her own hand down lower and lower. Hard muscles softened at his stomach and – her hand met the hardness of his rigged cock. A gasp broke their kiss, and then she was pushed onto her back.

“Din,” she panted as he ripped the shirt off her.

He hummed in response, mouth rolling a hard nipple between his lips before she could register the cool air against her skin. A free hand caught her wandering one and held it above her head. “Keep that there,” he growled as he moved to the other nipple. His tongue moved out to lap at it and then flicked. She mewled, panting wildly as he made her sensitive body burn with desire. She arched her back as his free hand turned its attention on her body. It roamed over the delicate length of her neck sending shivers through her body before trailing down to take her breast between his fingers. Her hand moved to run through his thick locks. Instantly he pinched at her nipples and she jumped.

“Keep it up there,” he growled lowly, pinching tighter and then pulled. With his mouth back on the other nipple he brought his teeth over the hard nub. The strange mix of pain and pleasure had her body shuddering.

“Din, please you’re killing me,” she begged pulling at his locks between her fingers. “I need to touch you.”

He released her taught nipples and the rush of blood made her legs quiver. The hot white edge of an orgasm made her moan loudly, and he hadn’t even touched her clit. She felt his hard dick against her thigh as he moved, and for a second she could have cried out with joy. There was a strange noise, he moved across her and reached for something. The thick strands of fabric ran over her sensitive nipples fueling her mewls of pleasure.

“Din?” she asked as he wrapped a scarf around her wrist and set to work tying it above her head.

“I told you,” he hummed bringing his lips along her arm, down to her neck. He kissed hard along her jaw, fingers running through her locks before he grudgingly moved further down to her sensitive nipples. His fingers moved further ahead, finally working on the button of her shorts. She lifted her hips as he made quick work of the last piece of clothing she had on. “I’ve wanted to do this for so long,” he moaned bringing his lips to her hot mound. His fingers ran down along the outside of her thighs before running up the inside. He kissed each thigh, easily getting her to spread her legs and bare herself to him.

She sensed him moving further away from her molten heat. “Din,” she growled between clenched teeth. “Don’t you dare tease me.”

For a second his touch left her. She rolled her hips in frustration. And then his tongue ran up along her wet slit, separating her lips until he hit her clit. “Fuck, Din, yes,” she moaned.

“Damn, you taste so good,” he hummed repeating the achingly slow motion up to her clit. Heat began to cloud her vision. His tongue flicked against her hot bundle of nerves before he placed his mouth over it and –

“Yes, yes, yes don’t stop that Din I’m going to cum,” she gasped clutching wildly at the scarf holding her back from him. A hot white wave exploded within her and sent a molten light throughout her body. Curling her toes, she arched her back again as his finger moved to tease her entrance.

“Do you want more?” he asked lowly, easing up on her clit and began kissing her thighs.

“Please,” she begged moaning as he pushed a finger into her.

He moved up her body until his lips were brushing against her ear. “You’re so wet,” he hummed planting a hot kiss against her jaw. His lips slick with her juice. It had been a while since she had anyone, and his thick finger made her body hum. Her mind raced at how his length would fill her. He began to pump it into her, curling so his digit hit the spot inside of her that would make her unravel completely.

“Gods Din, what are you doing to me?” she gasped.

He responded by adding another finger, his eager breathing against her ear was edging her closer and closer. He kept hitting that spot within her, going faster and faster. The wet sound filled the small room. The two of them desperate and wild with lust.

“I’m, I’m, I’m going to…” Azree gasped and he brought his mouth over hers as another orgasm consumed her body. Her legs quivered and he only slowed to hold her hips down. It seemed endless, the unbelievable joy and heat that peaked with a crescendo of light that spread through her body. She pulled away from his kiss to gasp for air and cry out. “Din!”

He let her ride it out, slowing to a stop and pulling out as her legs stopped shaking. Soft kisses pressed along the side of her face. “Din,” she said softly. “Let me give you-“

“No please,” he said kissing up her neck. “You’re still hurt, _amor_ , and I wanted this to be about you.” He gently removed the scarf around her wrist. “I’m sorry.”

“What for?” she asked, surprised at the ginger tone and his strange word. He seemed to be regretting something, but her mind could barely fathom what. _Unless it was that he didn’t make a move months earlier._

He placed tender kisses over her wrist. “After all you went through, I shouldn’t have tied you up. I should have been gentler.”

She ran her hand through his hair and kissed his forehead. “I really enjoyed it,” she whispered. “I’ve never had anyone tell me what to do before or been so generous in what they give. And I trust you with my life.”

He rolled onto his back and pulled her onto his chest, careful of her broken arm. When she placed her head on his chest, she was surprised at how fast it beat. “Can I ask you something?” she asked quietly. He hummed warmly in response, turning his head to place a sweet kiss against her forehead. “What you said before, _amor…_ ” She paused as he held her tighter. “What does it mean, I’ve never heard it before?”

He pulled away from the kiss and ran a hand along her side down to the curve of her arse. It felt nice having his hands splayed over her bare skin. “It’s a… term of affection,” he eventually said.

She smiled and kissed his chest before placing her head down against the place. “I like it.”

~O~O~O~

“What’s this system over here?” Azree asked pointed to a murky collection of planets and stars.

He shrugged, “We’re flying blind now. This is uncharted space.”

“And that’s Quintin’s ship?” she asked leaning over the console to get closer to the cold window.

“That piece of space junk? Yeah.”

“You don’t like him, do you?” she asked. He rolled his shoulders, clearly repressing some agitated energy. The child giggled from his pod between them, large black eyes looking back and forth as if he understood the subtleties of the conversation. 

“I don’t know him,” Din muttered maneuvering the Razor Crest away from several stray asteroids. As he did a small black planet revolving around a distant sun was revealed. It glittered briefly before returning to it’s muted black. “Was he the other Mandalorian you talked about?”

Azree sunk into the co-pilot’s seat and pulled her legs up underneath her. “I’ve mentioned him before?” she asked, surprised Din had remembered something quite personal about herself. They had been travelling for shy over 10 months now, enough that there had been conversations she’d forgotten about and others she hoped he had. She reached into the little one’s pod and picked up the small fabric toy, with the force they began a small game of catch.

“When you asked about my creed. You said you knew a Mandalorian who would remove his helmet.”

“Oh…”

“Were you friends?” he asked.

She turned to look at him just as he turned to look down at the console and punch at some of the buttons. There was a not so subtle taste of jealousy in his tone that made her mouth feel sour. It had been a while since she read body language, but she sensed his discomfort. It seemed strange after the nights they had spent together with naked limbs wrapped lazily together. Every night she fell asleep to his kisses littering her body, making her feel like a goddess. They hadn’t talked about what it might mean or what box to put it in so they could label it nicely. All she knew was that every night she became more dependent on having him near her, and it made her terrified and alive.

“We only knew each other for a short while,” she began watching his hands return to grip the steering wheel. Dismissing it seemed the best course of action. “Both of us were kids really. I must have been 14?”

“So, you weren’t friends?” he probed turning to face her.

“No, we were – I guess. I don’t know, it was a long time ago Din.”

“But you both clearly remember each other,” he continued as heat began to creep up her neck.

“Are you doing okay?”

“What do you mean?” he muttered, stiffening his shoulders as he turned to focus back on the console in front of him.

“Well, with what happened to Mazra. We haven’t really talked about what happened. And you know, being her last…”

“I’m a lot of people’s last,” he stated. The metallic tone of the modulator only added to the cold sensation that crawled up her spine at his response. Sometimes with the way he treated them, her and the child, she forgot he was a killer. A lethal bounty hunter.

“Ah,” she muttered and looked to the door. The small toy smacked into her face and she had to double take at the little one who sheepishly looked the other way, ears tilting towards Din. She narrowed her eyes at them both.

“Hmm,” Din grumbled through the metallic modulator. There was a strange silence that filled the air between them. She wanted to change the subject, but she could sense his agitation. Whatever he was working through there was an underlying worry. If she asked, Azree was concerned the thoughts would scurry away into a dark corner and grow into something worse. She wanted him to come to her with his fears and not to pry it from his mind. So, they sat in silence as space rushed past them.

“We’re going to have land on that planet coming up,” he said eventually as Quintin’s ship surged forward and towards the black orb. “We need to refuel and there’s a port of some kind registering.”

“Okay. I guess it would be good to walk around,” she said stretching her legs out and tossing the toy up into the air. It landed with a pat in the child’s lap. The little one giggled and lifted the toy with both his hands before tossing it into the air, letting it drop back down to him before pushing back up with the force. 

“Actually,” Din said dropping his head before he looked back her way. “I’m sorry Azree, but you’ll both be safer if you stay on the Razor Crest.”

“Are you being serious?!” she exclaimed standing quickly and tried to hide the sway of her body as her head went light. “I don’t want to talk to you right now,” she snapped. “You’re ridiculous!”

“You’re still healing,” he huffed jumping out the chair to intercept her way to the door. His body filled the only exit, broad shoulders stupidly broad. It only made her more frustrated. “I just want you to be safe.”

“No,” she snapped pushing her finger into his chest. “You want a little dove who will stay in her cage. Get out of my way before I make you,” she growled feeling her chest heave with a wild weightlessness.

The child cooed quietly.

Din huffed and stepped aside so she could storm out. “It’s okay,” he hushed the child once she left. “I’m an idiot.”


	7. Hellfawn

The black shards beneath his feet crunched with each deliberate step. Azree had already reached the others and he gritted his teeth as the other Mandalorian wrapped his arms around her, holding her tightly in his embrace. _Just friends. They were just friends._ The Mandalorian released her and Talia pulled her also in for an embrace. 

_“I am glad you are safe,”_ she signed quickly.

“I’m sorry,” Azree said softly. “It’s been so long since I…” she motioned awkwardly with her hands before shaking her head.

Talia nodded knowingly and placed a hand on the smaller woman’s shoulder. “She’s glad you’re safe,” Quintin explained.

“I never got to thank you both for protecting the kid,” Azree continued quickly. “It means everything to me.”

 _“You were an idiot for jumping in the middle of that fight with those foul things,”_ Talia signed shaking her head with a sad smile.

“She says-“

“We should keep moving,” Din interjected, coming to a stop by the group. This planet felt cold and metallic. The blackness of the shards they walked on spilled into all the brush strokes of the land, blackening everything until it seemed like they were walking on a void. Something was watching them from inside the blackness and it made him uneasy. “Quintin and I will do a recon of the settlement and then we’ll bring the ships over for refueling. Talia and Azree, you should stay here with the ships.”

 _“Why do you two get to go while we stay behind?”_ Talia signed angrily. Her dark brow was heavy with a frown.

“I agree,” Quintin seconded. “Azrael and I haven’t had a chance to catch up yet,” he added, sticking his thumbs into his belt and kicking out a foot as if to signal this was his final resting place. “You two go along, it’s less suspicious than two Mandalorians.”

Din ground his teeth together. This was exactly the situation he wanted to avoid. “Or I go with you,” Azree suggested looking up at him. He knew she was offering him an olive branch, a chance for him to accept his mistakes. “And we radio in so you can both fly the ships over. That way we save time,” she suggested. “And I can fly with Quintin when we leave the planet, that way we can catch up.”

Talia shook her head. “ _You were barely alive before; you need to rest. I will go with the silver Mando.”_

“Talia doesn’t think it’s a good idea, and personally I agree,” Quintin repeated placing a gloved hand to his busted chest piece. “Don’t worry, we got time.”

Din huffed, looking out to the strange black landscape. His skin prickled. If only they had time. “Okay, but I need a word,” he said stepping forward and taking Azree’s hand. She followed him, but her stiffness was enough to tell him she wasn’t impressed. They were barely out of earshot when she dug her heels into the gravel and he gave in.

“What is it, Din?” she asked in an exasperated whisper. Even frustrated with him, with her bright blue eyes hooded behind furrowed brows… Damn, the way she said his name made him want to kiss her. His chest felt tight just looking at her.

“I’m sorry,” he said bluntly stepping closer to her. She didn’t move away. His eyes dropped to the cast on her arm. A few more days rest and the last of the bacta spray and they’d be able to take it off. There would only be a faint scar. With a shaky breath he closed his eyes tightly and squeezed his hands into fists. “I can’t lose you.”

His chest felt like it was going a million miles an hour, growing tighter and tighter with each beat. It was a sensation he’d only felt on the verge of death, but this time it filled him with hopeful dread. _I’m too old for this,_ he thought shamefully. Her small hand squeezed his and his heart could have erupted. “I’m still angry with you,” she said as her thumb moved to rub along the back of his hand. “You’re an idiot,” she grumbled stepping forward as her fingers moved up to the sleeve of his shirt, sneaking up underneath the fabric until – with an electric volt – her skin touched his. “And,” she continued as her chest fell and rose quickly. “And, I don’t want to lose you either. So, don’t be an idiot.”

“Dammit, Azrael,” he said huskily and pulled her against him. He lowered his head to hers, for the first time frustrated with the metal between him and someone. They stayed chest to chest, forehead to helmet until the sound of footfalls approached. Reluctantly he lifted his head and watched the other Mandalorian approach, making sure the other saw his intimate hold of her. _I want you to know she is mine,_ he thought as she stirred against him.

“Please,” she said softly.

“We won’t be long,” he said releasing her from his hold. “The kid is sleeping in his pod,” he continued as she dropped her hands away from him and folded her arms.

Quintin came to a stop at her side and let his hand fall on her shoulder. “Don’t worry, brother. I’m sure between us we can take anything on this planet for a joy ride.”

Din felt the ache of tension run through his jaw. “You call if there’s any problems,” he said looking to Azree. She nodded but it did nothing to dull the building tension of leaving her on this planet.

With one final look at her and the stranger he turned and left with Talia, hating every step he took away from her. He couldn’t avoid the gnawing unease of the black void of the landscape. Eyes were watching them split away from each other and he hoped if they wanted a fight it was with him. He shuddered at the memory of what she had done at that stone temple barely a week ago. There was something impossible and frightening in that power she had. He never wanted to see it again.

The settlement was only a short walk away and was full of short strangers. Every planet had its strange customs, it’s strange lifeforms. The first sign that the small grey humanoids were more unusual than the rest was the trip wires around the village. They had no problem stepping over the line rigged with cans and shared a questionable look. _These creatures might not want us here,_ he thought moving towards the rope that ran around the walls of the black domed houses. It was hard to distinguish depth given the thick shade of black that seemed to consume light and the essence of the settlement. The whole place only emitted a gentle hub as the grey humanoids talked in hushed whispers, pattering to-and-fro with black sticks.

 _“These people are weird,”_ Talia signed. _“We should leave. I don’t think-“_

“Guests!” an older woman – well Din assumed older by her stooped back and the thick lines of her sagging face – cried. On closer inspection of the others however he realised they all had thick rolls of grey flesh.

“Guests?”

“What guests? I can’t smell them.”

“Oh, but you can hear them, such loud flat-footed fools.”

“Shush with that chatter and get your goods. How long has it been since we’ve had guests?”

“Oh, so long, so long.”

The grey critters came alive and began bustling around, setting up tables with strange black jewellery, crafts, art, tools, and more. Within seconds what Din could only assume was a food stall was set up and the grey gentleman with large folds where his skin had sagged offered him deals in a hushed voice.

“Don’t listen to that bag,” grumbled another who was putting the final touches to his own stall. “What you want is Hellfawn weapons, the best this side of the galaxy.”

They moved further forward into the street. “What we need is fuel,” Din said but as he moved closer to the stall the strange weapons held his interest. One in particular, an impossibly black hilt so strikingly similar in design to Azrael’s he knew it had to be a lightsaber. He stepped forward to touch it when the grey man recoiled and shook his head. Talia nudged him in the ribs.

_“Look at their ‘eyes.’”_

“No, you need a bath. That stench will have you killed,” the grey creature grumbled bringing a grubby cloth to his nose. Din looked at the pink fleshy scars and the dark hollows of where the man’s eyes would have been. “But fuel, that way. To the Mechanical Witch.”

“How much for the blade?” he asked picking it up. Din was only vaguely concerned that they might not have the currency they needed for the fuel or the weapon, favours would keep them here longer but pay just as well as any credits.

The thing shook his head and flung the grubby cloth at them. “That thing has the same stench as you, Jedah. Take it and be gone.”

Din didn’t correct the stranger and pocketed the light blade. “ _Do I smell?”_

Talia shook her head and shrugged. _“No more than normal.”_

“Jadah?”

“Definitely smells like one.”

“What are they doing here?”

“We should ask them to leave.”

Din and Talia walked through their hushed conversations. Each step made him want to shudder. _We need the fuel, we need the fuel,_ he reminded himself glad that Azrael hadn’t come with him and was protecting the kid. The Mechanical Witch was a strange looking building littered with scrap metal and long dead robots tainted black from whatever strangeness infected the planet.

“Don’t want that Jadah kind here.”

“They’ll get us killed for sure, do you think _they_ know?”

“They know. They’ll be here by the day’s end.”

“That one only want’s pretty things with pretty eyes.”

From within the strange store front emerged the last thing Din wanted to see. He groaned as a robot swung its thick arms open. “Hello there,” it croaked with a low ring. The very sight of the darkened silver thing made him feel sick. “I am MW-249, or MW to my customers. What can I do to serve you?”

“Is there something alive to deal with?” he grumbled.

“Not if you require any mechanical maintenance, or fuel,” MW replied without a beat.

Din huffed and folded his arms. “We need to refuel two ships.”

“Excellent. Where are they?”

They began their negotiations stiffly, both wanting to be done with the interaction and away. Payment was in the form of delivering a package to the other side of the planet, collecting a small debt, and then returning. MW agreed it reasonable that one ship refuel while the other was out in use.

“Will our vessels be safe refueling here?” he asked turning to look at the street of nervous grey creatures. Grouped together they looked like sad, drooping globs of wax.

“Ah, you heard the chatter,” MW hummed mechanically. “If you are quick, then yes. Do we have a deal?”

Reluctantly Din nodded and he and Talia set off back to their site.

~O~O~O~O~

Silence. It was painfully perfect. Din wanted nothing more than for the other Mandalorian not to say a single word more than necessary and so far, he had been happy. They had dropped off a shipment of scrap, roughed up another small blind blob who gave in with the payment and added some more for good measure, and now they were flying back. Blackness swam beneath them, occasionally strange shapes moved but they were never any more than outlines of indistinguishable shapes. They twisted and turned giving the faintest sliver of silver lines before vanishing.

“So how long has the kid and Azrael been with you?”

Din groaned. He turned to the other Mandalorian who piloted the ship. Din had yet to see the other man’s face, more and more he began to wonder if Azree made it up or if the idiot had done it as a once off. “A year with the kid, 10 months with Azree.”

“Interesting. So, the kid didn’t come with Azree?”

“Obviously not.”

Silence returned once again to the cockpit. It was long enough that Din began to believe his short tone was enough to silence the Mandalorian next to him, but short enough that it couldn’t be enjoyed. “A foundling then. Interesting…” he paused and looked over to Din. “So, is he going to be a Jedi or a Mandalorian?”

“Depends,” Din grumbled. Obviously, he’d rather train him to become a Mandalorian, but he was so young still. If they found the Jedi colony, he wasn’t sure he could or would give the little womp rat up. He enjoyed being his protector, enjoyed the antics that made Arzee and himself run around the hangar trying to tame the little kid. For the first time in a long time he had a family of sorts, not that he would ever say it aloud.

“Well the Jedi are good people, being keepers of the peace and all. They trained and raised Azrael and well she turned out fine despite it all. You know, she’s changed a lot... in a lot of ways. I know people grow up and she was always a stunner but –“ he whistled and the modulator emitted a horrible shrieking noise.

Din balled his hand into a fist and his finger teased the holster. “Don’t talk about her like that,” he warned lowly.

The other Mandalorian looked over to him and Din met his gaze. He hoped he looked as intimidating as he felt angry. The other Mandalorian nodded and looked back to the shifting landscape. “So, have you asked her to be part of your clan yet? That’s a Mudhorn signet, right?”

The settlement was approaching fast, a strange shape twisting above the horizon. Din held his tongue, in a few hours after this junkship was refueled they’d be in the air and he wouldn’t have to worry about dealing with this chatter.

“I’ve heard about your reputation, even out here. Cold blooded, ruthless mercenary for hire. Anything for a price, right? I’d be careful, Mando. You need friends more than you need enemies.”

Quintin slowed their approached and dropped the landing gear. In a gush of wind and a shudder the ship was on the ground next to the Razor Crest. The other Mandalorian was out of the cockpit and on the ground before Din had a chance to respond, not that he would. He was a good bounty hunter, yes. But not enough to transcend galaxies? No.

He left the cockpit and stepped out into the shipyard. The sky was beginning to darken, the hot orb of a sun already cooling as it sunk lower. Quintin had just reached Talia’s side and the two of them listening intently to a hunched woman. The pink scarred flesh around where her eyes once were scrunched tightly as she shook her head, waving the black walking cane in their direction. Another grey creature, her adult child perhaps, came to her side. Din walked closer as the woman calmed down.

“Whenever a child is born,” the old lady explained, “we must remove their eyes. There is One on this planet that will take you away if that One so desires the eyes. Those who are taken very rarely return, and when they do it is often to kill. It happens to the animals too. Nothing is safe from the One.”

“They have eyes and the Jadah stench. You must leave now, please, their presence makes your flesh crawl.”

“Once we are done refueling. Then we’ll go,” Din explained sternly.

The strange Mandalorian was stiff, unnaturally so. “I need to go do something,” he muttered, going to walk away.

Din grabbed his arm. “What are you doing?” he hissed lowly. The plan was for the two of them to guard the ships until they could leave. They were perfectly ready to take off in moments if they needed to, or fight if taken by surprise.

Quintin sighed. His busted modulator only made the metallic ring more annoying. “I may have dropped Azrael off at a vantage point while Talia and yourself were wondering around,” he admitted. “Now I know it’s not so friendly out there I’m going to go-“

“You did what?!” growled Din. “Where?”

“She’s more capable than you think,” Quintin snapped back ripping his arm free.

Din wanted to batter the idiot. “She’s also still extremely vulnerable. It’s not even been a week since Kazaroon. She’s still healing.”

“I understand that, but if you try and smother her, she’s only going to kick you in the balls and leave you.”

Din chuckled. “You know her so well for someone that last saw her 16 years ago.”

“Well they say it’s hard to forget your first,” Quintin said snidely before shaking his arm free and kicked off the ground and into the sky. Din staggered back from the hot blast and grumbled.

 _Well if the idiot wants to jet off, fuck it,_ he thought angrily and stormed over to the Razor Crest.

~O~O~O~O~

The scenery was bizarre, but beautiful. Nothing but the speck of the town for miles. It was the perfect time to focus on expelling the strange element that had settled inside her core, quietly testing her mind every day since her escape. She could feel it trying to inject anger into her veins. She wouldn’t let it consume her. Taking a stance, she closed her eyes, breathed deep, and reached out to touch the element. It felt cool and smoky, her touch failing to fully grasp it.

“I want you to leave me,” she said focusing harder.

_We are apart of you now._

“I don’t need you.”

 _We have given you sight,_ it whispered and involuntarily her eyes opened. The light was fading in the horizon, the colours slowly beginning to drag across the black landscape. The sky was cast in thick purple clouds, in the far distant a muted orange dripped across the inky outline of a volcano. The hazy red tip exploded, blooming in vibrant red for a moment before dripping down the edges in thick amber strokes.

“I never asked for my sight, if anything I want it gone,” she growled closing her eyes again and drawing more energy into expelling the unwanted parasite. “Go.”

_You must train the child, to do so you need us._

“I’m no master. I never finished my training,” Azree huffed, running her hands through her hair exasperated. This wasn’t working, if anything she felt the element grow in confidence. It slowly slipped into her veins before dissipating. It was enough to make her shudder.

_You have mastered the vaapad form._

“That’s just a fighting form.”

_And you have lived a life with many experiences._

“I can’t be the child’s master,” she growled wishing the element, alive within her, would leave.

_Only Sith deal in absolutes._

Azree felt a cold chill run up her spine, the electric tingle teased her fingertips.

_You need to accept what you have, a strong connection to the dark side._

She swallowed the nervous lump in her throat. “Exactly why the child needs another master.”

Silence followed her statement. Behind her, she could sense the sudden presence of a stranger. Azree felt the ghosting sensation of silk wrapping around the bare flesh of her neck and knew instantly how dangerous the unseen stranger was. She turned and the sensation vanished. Before her stood a beautiful woman unlike Azree had ever seen.

“What is a creature such as yourself doing all alone out here?” the stranger asked, almost gliding across the ground. The long red sleeves of her gown hovered above the light consuming shards, she seemed to positively hum with light. Those eyes were the most striking feature, bright yellow with a slit like a feline. When Azree looked she saw the way the swirled and shifted like smoke across water.

“Just admiring the view,” she replied trying not to feel flustered. The woman was easily one of the most beautiful things she’d ever seen, and it made her stomach twist into knots. Inside she knew this creature was dark and deadly. She had to hold onto that thought tightly because it felt too tempting to let it slip away.

“It is dangerous out here, but I can tell you are more deadly. Jedi?” she asked prowling around the edge of the cliff, her eyes never leaving Azree. She felt more and more like a fawn in the presence of a tiger. “And my, what extraordinary eyes. They appear to have galaxies in them.”

“What are you doing here?” Azree eased, her finger hooking into the leather belt so her hand was resting beside her blade. The cool metal was reassuring against her fingertips and a familiar swell of power and surety made her stand straighter. The small movement made the strange woman smile wider.

“We don’t get visitors very often,” she purred, edging closer until she was no more than a lunge away from Azree. “Your energy had me curious.”

A bright ball of light flared behind the stranger, billowing up into the sky before the crack and thunder of the explosion rolled across the land. Azree side stepped around the stranger, her gaze narrowing in on the settlement in the distance. The Razor Crest pulled up through the thick black smoke, maneuvering on a tight pivot and firing at the attacking ship. There was another flash of light and the attacking ship tilted, spiralling before exploding into the black metallic earth with a thunderous explosion.

“Oh my, how exciting,” the woman purred coming to stand next to her shoulder. She felt the soft fabric brush against her broken arm and the element inside of her vibrated excitedly. “And look, a Mandalorian approaches.” Azree turned to look at the woman who smiled slightly. “It’s a dull life on this planet,” the woman shrugged as Quintin dropped from the sky with his blasters raised.

“Step away from her,” he threatened lowly.

The woman raised her hands slowly, the thick red folds of fabric cascading down her arms almost seductively. “Easy there lover boy,” she purred.

Quintin walked forward slowly, his hand going straight for Azree’s before pulling her away from the strange woman. His blaster never left her face. “Are you okay?” he asked moving the two of them back until they were far enough away that he could stand in front of her.

“We were just talking,” Azree grumbled shaking herself free of his touch. _What is happening to me?_

“Yeah, well she’s not as nice as she looks,” he warned.

The woman looked offended, her hands dropping to rest against her shapely hips. She opened her mouth to speak but the loud rumble of the Razor Crest landing droned out her words. The black shards around them clattered and Azree turned to see Din soaring up the cliff towards them, the flare of his jet pack horribly bright. Suddenly the air around them seared with heat, it burnt down her throat and felt like acid in her lungs. Quintin fired. The blaster shot rang through the air and then, just as suddenly, the acidic burning was gone. Azree turned to see, but she already knew the stranger had vanished. Where she once stood was nothing but empty air. Her presence had disappeared with her, Azree tried to reach out to see what happened but there was nothing to grasp onto. The element within her stilled, returning to its silent state.

“What the-“

“Azree,” Din said dropping onto the dark shards and strode forward. He looked tense and battle ready. “We need to leave now.”

“What happened back at the settlement?” she asked.

“Another ship attacked. Looked like an Imperial scout, I’d say there’s more to come so let’s go.” He stepped forward and offered his hand to her.

“Wait!” Quintin growled spinning around. “What about my ship?”

Din sighed, “Look it’s going to be crowded-“

“My ship, Mando. Where is it?”

“It was, and now it’s not. Let’s go,” Din grumbled.

“Is everyone safe?” Azree asked taking his hand and making sure she stood between the two Mandalorians as Quintin looked about ready to throttle Din.

Din nodded, pulling her to his chest before his other arm snaked around her body. “I am sorry about your ship,” he said over her shoulder. Din tightened his hold of her, pulling her flush against his chest. “Hold tight,” he said pushing jumping up into the air. The wind whipped around her hair and in a moment of fright she wrapped her legs tightly around his waist so her legs clutched on the outside of his. She could hear him chuckle. “It’s okay, I’ve got you,” he reassured as the cliff dropped by fast. The sensation made her stomach churn dangerously.

She grumbled, dropping her head as far into the crock of his neck as she could and closed her eyes.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey! I hope everyone is doing okay with all that is happening right now, because I think we all need a bit of love right now I'll update the next chapter which has some nice goodies in there ;)  
> Stay safe all, and if you need anything send me a message :)


	8. Ignite

“Fuck!” Azree groaned, her hand instantly going to Dins. In the darkness of night their small campfire provided the only shield to the darkness and cold. _This was meant to be a short trip_ , she thought humourlessly at how things seemed to work out for them.

“What?” he asked, his muscles instantly coiled for battle at her tone.

She wasted no time pulling him to his feet, scooping up her backpack and began running through the darkness to the caves they had passed earlier in the day. “A storm is coming,” she panted as she pushed her legs harder. “And the temperature is dropping.”

“Ice?” he asked as a cool whisper of a breeze wrapped around their ankles and against their backs. Azree shuddered as a strange echoing rumble sounded in the distance. A crack of lightening erupted, shredding the darkness from the land for a moment. Everything was harsh and white, the cave cliffs seemed so far away. Then darkness consumed everything. She felt his gloved hand tighten around hers. Despite the growing danger filling her senses his touch reassured her.

The strange ringing grew louder, gaining ground on them until every breath was painful from the cold. At first the maddened sprint seemed achievable, but now her muscles burned with each stride and her mouth tasted thick and coppery. She could feel the shards of ice hitting the earth and scattering across the ground until, eventually, every footfall was a dangerous game of crush the ice or twist your ankle. _How much longer can we last,_ she wondered daring to look to Din through the darkness. If he was struggling under the beskar, he was hiding it well.

“When it gets us,” Din said pushing a harder pace, “I need you to do as I say.”

Another crack of thunder shuddered through the earth; the bright blast of lightening washed across the land. For the briefest moment they were almost there. The caves were so close. Then a shard of ice plummeted from the sky, tearing through her jacket like butter and slicing the delicate skin of her arm.

“Fuck, ow!” she hissed staggering for a moment before she found her stride again.

Din slowed, hissing himself before another struck his beskar with a ring. “Just a little further,” he hissed as something the size of small rubber ball smashed into his shoulder.

She tightened her grip on his hand as the violent thundering of ice smashing into the earth grew closer. The shards of ice came down faster now, cutting carelessly at her skin. Din pulled her closer to himself, shielding her as much as possible with his own body. “Din-“

“Shh,” he hissed. “Let me do this.”

A flash of lightening lit up the mouth of a cave, it seemed smaller than the Razor Crest but at this point anything would do. They scrambled across the dark terrain before diving into the cave mouth as a wave of ice shattered into the earth. A gust sent more shards into the mouth of their sanctuary and Din stumbled. Azree went to catch him, her hands meeting sticky wetness as he leaned into her touch.

“Let’s go further in,” she said moving them away from the storm raging outside. “You’re bleeding,” she continued softly, leading him towards the strange shifting lights that rippled along the cave ceiling and the walls. She was grateful for his protection, knowing that without the beskar they both would be far worse-off.

“It’ll be fine,” he muttered, pausing in shock at the perfectly blue pool in the centre of the small cavern. There seemed like no other entrances or exits, and the ragged cream coloured walls were beautifully illuminated with blue spirals. Steam floated above the water of the perfect pool, luring them closer. Dropping to her knees Azree dipped her hand into the clear water and almost moaned in pleasure.

“You need to take off your armour and get in. I know this water, it’s healing.”

Din scoffed loudly. “Healing water? Are you getting enough air?”

“I won’t look,” Azree huffed folding her arms and closed her eyes. “You can even put the blindfold on if you want.”

“Fine,” he grumbled.

He rummaged through her bag before she felt the soft piece of cloth come over her eyes. It was a sensation that instantly made heat pool between her legs. Unconsciously she crossed her legs, leaning into his hands as he pulled thick waves of her hair through his fingers.

“Din,” she said softly and turned to face him. “Clothes off and in the pool now.”

She began pulling off her own clothes, aware of the heat that followed the path of his eyes. “Yes, _amor_ ,” he said lowly. There was a sharp hiss of pain as he removed his chest armour, and she tried her hardest to help him blind. When they were done with his clothes, he brought his attention to her, easing off her underclothes and kissing the exposed lines of her body.

Azree giggled as his fingers trailed lightly over her stomach while she tried to find the edge of the pool with her toes.

“Let me,” he said coming up behind her, his lips dipping to her ear to place a soft kiss while he swept her into his arms and waded into the warm water. Azree curled into his arms, pressing her face against his chest. Thunder rolled through the cave and resonated in her bones as their lips met. As their kiss deepened, she felt herself fading away to him. “This isn’t so bad,” he purred pulling away from their kiss to pepper more along her jaw, dipping lower to suck little love bites along her neck.

Azree gasped and turned to face him, letting her legs wrap around his naked waist. The warm water soothed her sore muscles and the stinging of the cuts seemed to ease away. “Hmm,” she hummed and leaned back to float on her back, her legs still wrapped around his waist.

“Kriff,” he groaned running his hands up along the curves of her side before sliding back down and grabbed the curve of her arse. “We could just stay here forever,” he muttered, squeezing hard at the round of her flesh before his distracted hands wandered to her hardened nubs. “We could make a rule – no clothes.” His hands reached around to hold her back, pulling her up from the water to kiss her lips.

Azree smiled against his soft lips. “Careful there, Din,” she teased between languid kisses. “Forever is a long time.”

He smiled, deepening the kiss before pulling her down with him. She giggled, struggling for a moment as the water rushed around her and then they were both submerged under the warm water. It rushed around her ears as she drifted to the bottom with him, his hands holding her to his chest before roaming up to run through her floating locks. It was quiet down here, just the soft sweeping sounds of the water and the increasing thump –thump -thump of her heart. They stayed down there until her lungs felt like they were going to explode. She pushed away from the floor and up to the surface, Din following her close so his hands could run up her curves as he surfaced after her.

She gasped in a full breath, laughing as the floating sensation swam through her veins. Something warm like sunshine washed against the back of her eyelids and she felt the energy seep from his body to hers to connect. It felt like some sweet four letter word, edging delicately to the tip of her tongue. 

“I love your laugh,” he said breathlessly pushing her against the rocky edge. His lips teased hers, starting soft before dipping deeper. His hands couldn’t stay still, like there wasn’t an inch of her he didn’t want to touch.

In a swift movement he lifted her up onto the edge of the pool. “Spread your legs,” he ordered running his hands up the inside of her thighs. Azree gasped and did as he ordered. “Now bring your sweet pussy here.” Slowly she inched closer until her arse perched dangerously on the edge. She clutched onto the rough rock either side of her thighs, her calves resting on his shoulder blades. He breathed her in, his hot breath teasing her core. Something in her chest threatened to collapse and send her over the edge. His wet fingers found her hands and moved them to her knees. “Stay,” he commanded and kissed her thighs.

“Yes,” she panted, quivering in torturous anticipation.

He was smiling. She couldn’t see the beautiful curve of his lips or the shape it made on his features, but she felt the way the energy around him hummed brightly. It made her wetter for him, the knowledge that in this moment she was pleasing him. He kissed up her thighs slowly, inching closer and closer to her heat. She squirmed, desperately wanting to reach out and touch him but she’d learned to listen, she liked to listen to his commands.

His tongue ran up her slit. _Gods._ Her clit pulsed with a maddened desire to be stroked. She purred as he continued his slow assault on her heat, selfless in his pursuit of having her cry out in pleasure. It took all her effort to keep her hands on her knees as he latched his mouth over her bundle of nerves and sucked while his tongue lapped upwards so he hit her most sensitive nerves. “Din,” she panted arching her back, so he had easier access to hardened nipples. He reached up, palming her panting breasts before teasing a nipple between his fingers. “Please,” she begged gripping onto her knees as her legs began to quiver uncontrollably. The hot ball of heat in her core was growing, seeping outwards to her toes.

“Cum for me,” he commanded thickly from his place between her thighs. Din pushed a thick finger inside her pussy and began to pump into her, adding a second finger quickly. She shuddered, collapsing backward and pulled him impossibly closer by her legs.

“Yes. Din. Ah, fuck yes!”

“Kriff, _amor_ ,” he growled pulling her from the edge. She crashed into him, falling under the water for a moment before he pulled her to his chest and brought her against the shallow. Her back grazed against the rough floor before a warm infectious sensation swarmed across her skin. She threw her head back in euphoria as he brought himself up against her and thrust hard.

“Yes, Din!” she cried digging her nails into his skin.

He moaned, a low growl rippling from his lips as he set a hard pace. His thick cock stretched her in ways she’d never felt before, hitting deep inside her core until all she could do was gasp incoherent vulgars. Her back felt new and torn apart simultaneously, pain stinging at her mind before sticky magic wound her flesh together with some generous release of pleasant chemicals. It was a high she never wanted off. It built within her. Hot. So. Fucking. Hot. “Din,” she gasped bringing his face down to hers to kiss him hard. “Fuck. Don’t. Sto-oh, Din.” He set a harder pace. _How?_

“Do you like it like that?” he growled digging her back into the rough rock harder, his cock hitting inside of her. The water around them slapped roughly as he pounded into her. It built brighter. Hotter. She was unravelling. She was exploding.

“I’m cumming,” she howled gripping onto him tightly as he brought her through the molten wave of pleasure. Numbly her mind returned, his hot breath brushing against her with each pump. She placed a hand to his chest and twisted her hips fast, so he flipped into the shallow below her. “You need to feel this,” she gasped and began to bounce her hips against him hard and fast.

“Gods,” he panted pulling at her nipples, running his hands roughly over her thighs and smacking her arse. “You’re so gorgeous,” he breathed as she pushed him down with one hand and rolled her hips. She heard his head fall back into the water and smiled, pushing her thighs to go harder, faster. His body was rigid beneath her, hard muscles impossibly harder. He was close. She felt it too. Her fingers ran along his chest and let him take a nipple in his mouth.

“Din,” she breathed hotly arching her back as the water slapped loudly around them. If someone else needed shelter from the storm she hoped they would fuck right off. Surely the sight of a woman riding her man would be enough for them to know they weren’t wanted.

He pulled her closer to his chest, one arm wrapping low around her back and holding her in place before he set an impossible pace beneath her. She gasped as he hit that spot in her again, the hot sticky button that would have her screaming. As her muscles tightened so did his. “I’m so close,” he moaned against her ear biting down against her neck. “Fucking your hot pussy,” he moaned and took her earlobe between his teeth. “You're so hot and wet for me.” Her muscles quivered before something inside her erupted in waves of warm bright light, spiralling out of control until it filled her veins from her fingers to her toes. He clutched her tightly muttering profanities in a language she didn’t understand. “Can I?” he asked through gritted teeth, his forehead pressed hard against hers. She felt his nose brush the blindfold down her eyes as he pounded into her.

“Yes, Din,” she gasped, closing her eyes as he gripped her tightly and met his peak.

They stayed intertwined for a long moment, floating in the water. Everything seemed to hum warmly in this perfect moment of afterglow. When he tensed she realised he’d noticed the slipped blindfold. “I’ve had my eyes closed,” she promised.

His fingers ran through her hair, pulling her in to kiss her temple. With deft fingers he pulled the wet cloth away from her face and tossed it to the edge of the pool. She heard it make a fat wet sound as it hit the rock. A soft smile slipped onto her face and she stretched out in the water, her muscles ached dully but she felt like floating on a high. 

“I don’t see what’s so wrong with forever,” he mumbled kissing the lines of her collar bones before nuzzling into her wet hair.

“You say that, because forever is an impossible concept to grasp,” she ran her fingers through his wet curls and pulled him into her chest. “One day you’ll wake up and realise it’s too much work living with a blind woman.”

He pulled away to look at her she assumed by the sharp movement and the heat his eyes left on her body. “You’ve never been a burden,” he said earnestly taking her face between his hands. “And you are no longer blind, you have nothing to worry about.”

“It’s weird,” she started quickly before the words fully formed in her mind. “I wish I wasn’t.”

“Wasn’t?”

“Uhh…” she swallowed, shifting under the weight of his intense gaze. She could feel him waiting patiently for her. “It’s just… things would be easier if I didn’t have my sight. Everything is so bright, and while sight has its benefits I must admit,” she said running her hands over his chest and shoulders as if to silently let him know she appreciated the rough physicality of his body. “But…” she traced her fingers up his neck to run along his face, finding the crease between his brow.

“You conscious of seeing me.”

“I worry about an accident, and I know how much the creed means to you.”

His lips pressed against hers and he pulled her fully against his chest. She smiled feeling safe and perfectly content. “I have something I want to ask you,” he said softly and reached around. Azree waited patiently, curious as he seemed to ruffle around in his discarded clothes for something. He returned shortly after and placed something metallic into her hands, a leather strap looping through it. _A necklace._ She thumbed the metal piecing a shape in her mind, familiar in a hazy memory. “I want you to be in my clan,” he said sounding vulnerable in his warmth.

“It’s a Mudhorn,” Azree whispered bringing it to her lips before turning away from him and lifted up her hair. “Would you?” she asked.

“Is that a-“

She turned her head smiling. “Yes.”


	9. Jedi Ruins

“So, you think there used to be a Jedi temple here?” he asked between a mouthful of the dried meat and the hard bread they’d brought with them for the expedition.

Azree stretched out on her stomach, content to never move a muscle again after their night together. Humming in agreement, she picked at her own parcel of food. “Possibly. There’s definitely one somewhere on this planet. You noticed how our kid pretty much flew out of the Razor Crest when we landed? There’s this sensation like a tugging in your head that draws you to a place.”

“Our kid, huh?”

Heat crept up her neck and she ducked her head down so thick strands of silver hair would blanket her embarrassment. Awkwardly she fumbled with the salted meat in front of her when a strange carving on the far wall caught her eye. _A perfect distraction,_ she thought leaping up onto her feet and edged closer to the far wall. “Did you notice this before?” she asked eyeing the intricate lines, swirling and intertwined in a beautiful large circle taller than her.

“Are you embarrassed?” he chuckled from the other side. The sounds of him putting away the remains of their scrappy meal echoed off the cave walls.

“No really, this wasn’t here before was it?” she called over her shoulder. An inexplicable desire to reach out and trace the dark caved lines moved her hand forward. The rock was rough beneath her fingers and the thick ruddy colour of the carving seemed to twist beneath her touch.

He laughed lightly as he approached her, the sound soft despite being under the tainted tune of the modulator. Then something clicked, crunched, and her stomach dropped until it filled her mouth. Rock rushed past her at a blinding pace, her heart hammered madly as she slowly grasped the sensation of falling without control.

“Azrael!”

She blinked and suddenly the rock funnel around her disappeared to be replaced with a wide cavern. She saw tall spirals start far below her to reach the rock roof and what could only be explained as a large structure of domed houses. It was gigantic and elegant at once. Then the rush running through her ears grew, the dark water below seemed to leap up eagerly to catch her. Within seconds she would crash into that black water. She took a deep breath in and scrunched her eyes shut tightly.

“Arms around me now,” he said, his body suddenly in front of her as his own strong arms wrapped around her tightly. She did as he asked, already feeling the upward surge as he stilled their violent descent into semidarkness. They lunged upwards for a moment before an uncomfortable splutter sounded from his jet-pack. He tilted, moving them towards the shore side. They didn’t quite make it and with a rough landing they splashed across the surface before toppling over into knee-high waters.

“Are you okay?” Din asked, still holding her tightly while he looked around the dark ruins.

Azree nodded numbly, her body buzzing from adrenaline. Inside her she felt the powerful flow of the force surge through her. “I feel – amazing,” she whispered pulling her hands into fists. She opened them and expelled a push so the water parted before them. It was a small movement and barely required any breath but promised endless stretches of possibilities. She turned to him with a wide smile and took his hand, “What about you?”

He nodded, squeezing her hand. “We’re going to have walk our way out of here,” he said moving toward the dry land while shaking the water in his boots. “Or swim.” It sounded like the worst possible idea and she could image his mouth twisting in distaste from evening mentioning it.

She chuckled, bumping against his shoulder as she jogged up the shoreline to the start of a beautiful stone pathway. It looked like it had seen centuries, but still it stayed strong and sure as it twisted past stone statues of proud looking Jedi knights and dirtied stained glassed windows until it came to a large entrance way. It towered above them both as if to warn anyone entering that they were indeed only humble guests.

“Who must have made such things,” she said breathlessly and slipped through the large doors into the hallway beyond. Together they walked through the silent halls draped in strange hues of faint light. Their footfalls seemed painfully loud as they walked past strange rooms filled with dusty furniture. It was the only insight to what must have happened within these walls. But as they continued, it became more and more bare. There were small signs that life once existed but left in a hurry. She shuddered.

“Why aren’t there any bones?” Din asked, stepping away from another open doorway where a table had been set. If food was once served on those plates it had long moulded into dust. A glass had been toppled over and never set right. “It looks as if they just left one day.” 

“When some strong Jedi pass, they become one with the force. Others have to be cremated in order to pass on properly. The energy here isn’t dark enough to suggest some mass slaughter, so I guess it’s possible that they just left…”

Regardless, she walked closer to him and let her hand fall to the blade at her hip. Together they came to the end of the long entrance hall, large double doors had been swept open so they could step into a great hall. The sheer size made Azree feel like a dusty insect crawling around the home of giants.

“What do you think this room was used for?” he asked. The echoes of his voice rippled off the high lofted roof with dirty red and blue tinted glass windows.

Large pillars towered to the roof above at every twenty strides, creating a clear path up to a set of low stairs. They trailed up to the far wall which was decorated in intricate glass decorations. “Maybe some official hall? There seems to be plenty of room for feast tables, or space for congregation. Imagine how many Jedi there must have been.”

They wondered through the halls and walls for what seemed like mere minutes and hours at once. At first it was out of curiosity – they ducked in and out of rooms, delicately looked through old dusty books and peered at faint paintings to try and spot the figures who once inhabited these giant halls. Then Azree found herself looking for some sort of exit, opening doors and scanning over the details. It wasn’t as noticeable until, as she was making her way through a series of doors, she turned and realised with a jolt that Din wasn’t with her.

“Azree?” she heard him call out to her from within the labyrinth.

“Din?” she called back, trying to not feel the unease crawl over her skin. As she made her way back to him it was impossible to ignore the hope that he found some way out. Static greeted her ears, ricocheting off the walls until all that surrounded her. Stepping out from a large doorway she saw Din hanging outside of a window with one hand gripped an old pipe and a com piece in the other.

 _CCCCCHHHZZZSS_ “Mando?” _CCCHHZZS_ “Where” _CCSSHZ_ “You?”

Din growled. “Quin. We’re beneath the caves. Beneath the caves. Quin?”

More static filled the room, Azree inched closer. “Coming… Your location… Beach.”

Din leaned out further, his hand held above his head and out as far as his body could stretch. It was an honorable attempt, but not matter how he twisted or high he climbed the signal didn’t get any better. Those few words were going to have to be enough. He clambered down with a huff and tossed the piece back into his pocket. “Any luck?” he asked.

“Nope. But – “ she said holding up a finger and pulled on her most trying smile, “I do have one last trick up my sleeve.”

“Anything,” he said following her lead as she sat cross legged on the hard rock floor.

“I have a strong connection here; I can feel the power and the focus that comes with it. If I meditate and ask for guidance, I might be able to find us a way out.”

Din tilted his head slightly. “Guidance from who?” It was a suspicious question, drawn out purposely to hint at his displeasure in advance.

When she shrugged and motioned broadly to the temple around her, she had the feeling he was frowning in disapproval. “Don’t worry, it’ll be fine,” she reassured, settling into a more comfortable position and began to focus on her breathing.

“That’s been said before,” he mumbled shaking his head and moved so he was leaning against the far wall opposite her. She let herself have one last sneaky glance at him, reveling in how gorgeous he looked in his casual form. One knee was bent so he could rest an arm against it and spread his legs... _Don’t get distracted,_ she urged herself trying to replace the images of him that burned on the back of her closed eyelids.

Instead she pictured a beach with white sand, clear blue waves crashed lazily against the shore. In the distance tall island cliffs surged out of the calm water. Salt was fresh in the air and only the faintest hint of rain washed away the hazy warmth of dusk. She stood up from the sand and let herself be pulled towards the far end of the beach. There, in the distance, was a candle that appeared on a stone pillar, a soft orange flame licked at the fast encroaching darkness. Each step brought less detail, greater focus. She felt the gentle orange flame draw her in, fill her vision, replace the world around her in inky darkness. The sand beneath her toes fell away, replaced with a cool liquid sensation. Slowly it crawled up from her feet to her knees and then to her waist. Her fingers reached out to touch the flame. The darkness surrounding her didn’t frighten her.

“I need help,” she asked as she touched it and the cold swallowed her body.

With a jerk she felt herself being pulled away from the murky darkness, her body shuddering with cold. Reality crashed against the illusion of her mind, scrambling the control of her awkward limbs as she stumbled backwards from – _water? Why are we in water?_ “Din?” she called out going to grab at the hold he had on her from behind.

“I’m here,” he said. “You were about to throw yourself into that cave,” he grumbled setting her wet form against the shoreline. The temple stood as an infinite structure in the distance, shadowed by the streams of sunlight that tumbled from a world above this rock. When she looked at him curiously, he pointed back to the dark water where a man-made cave curved above the high waterline. Strange carvings in an ancient language she didn’t recognise ran around the overhanging. They were faint with age, seeping deep into the stone and weathered from the underground lake.

“But this is the way,” she said unsure of how she knew, but felt impossibly sure of her statement. “We’re going to have to swim.”

He groaned. “Azree surely there has to be another way,” he grumbled.

She shook her head. “Trust me, it will be okay.”

“I do trust you but, no. It won’t be okay. How are we going to swim all the way up to the surface? Our lungs will burst.”

“There will be pockets of air, some parts we will be able to wade our way along. Din we will be fine, and there is no other way out.” She’d turned so her hands could take his and bring them up to her lips. The tension that ran from between his shoulder blades trailed all the way to make his fingers stiff.

“The water is cold,” he complained half-heartedly. She ran her thumb over the back of his hand, itching up under his shirt to touch the warmth of his skin. He leaned into her. “I don’t have a good feeling about this.”

“I won’t let anything happen to you,” she reassured crawling into his lap and letting him drape his arms over her. She slipped her hand up further and traced lines against his skin.

“I’m worried about you,” he confessed pulling his wet gloves off his hands and ran them over her jaw. “I can’t explain it, but I don’t think this place is right. I don’t think it will want to let you go.”

She kissed his fingertips and nuzzled in further to his touch. “Then I guess you’ll be able to say, ‘I told you so.’ Come on,” she sighed trying to dislodge the unsettled sensation that now sat heavy in her chest. “I bet I can swim faster than you.”

He was right. The water was cold. _Colder than I remembered_ , she could help but think as it sloshed in her boots. With a gentle push she parted the water to the entrance. It was a small mercy, something to ease them both in with confidence. But as she looked back to Din, she could tell this would be no easy task. She smiled to try and reassure him.

Together they made their way into the dark cave. It felt hard to ignore the discomfort it brought, like passing into the mouth of a beast. They clambered up wet rocks and past trickling waterfalls before diving into black water and swimming along the long winding dark walls. It spanned into oblivion, dragging them further and further from comfort. For the most of their journey they didn’t have to dive underwater or hold their breath. It was simply the unsettling sensation of swimming through inky black water. Often Azree jumped as something unseen slid against the legs of her pants or slithered between her fingers while she paddled. It made diving under the dark water only harder. Nothing chewed at her, nothing chomped at her wriggling fingers or tore at her limbs and until it did, she knew it was silly to let that fear consume her. But slowly the water turned salty and made her skin itch and her eyes burn slightly. It accompanied a giddy sensation, that this adventure was nearly over and with no harm done.

“We’re close,” she said trying to sound cheerful as she waded through the shallows. The shingle beneath her shifted and sucked at her boots with each step. Slowly the water level rose until once again they were paddling through the water, and then it rose some more until they reached the end of the cave. Below them the water didn’t seem so black; a refraction of light had defied the darkness. When she peered down into the murky depths, she thought she spotted a small silver fish flicker in the dull light before disappearing.

“This looks like it might be a deep dive,” Din said gripping the edge of the rock to hold himself steady.

Azree slid in next to him. “I think I feel a bit of a current, that will help.”

He nodded looking down and then back to her. “Ladies first,” he motioned for her.

She smiled and kissed the cheek of his helmet wishing he didn’t have to wear it. “I’ll see you on the other side, lover boy,” she said summoning a deep breath before expelling until her lungs felt they might burst. She took one last drag of humid air before duck diving and followed the current underneath to the ring of sunlight bursting through the rock. As she neared the small opening in the rock the pull grew stronger, a chill ran through her spine as she eased up her kicking and let nature take her closer to sunlight. She reached the hole and turned to see Din following close behind. _Gods he’s something special,_ she couldn’t help but think before pulling herself through the hole and out into the sunlight beyond.

It was some sort of old sea vessel that had beached and crashed through to the cave. The strange current had torn a tunnel through its heart and left a relatively clean push to the surface. The only obstruction was what appeared to be a small break in the hull far above. Broken beams littered the fringes and thick trees of kelp swayed in the current. A burn began to pulse around the fringes of her lungs as she pushed off the rock and upwards. It would be one last dash to the surface. She kicked harder and used her hands to paddle. Anything to reach the surface. _Air._ Something grazed her leg, maybe a fish, maybe the kelp she passed. It didn’t matter. _Air._ She kicked harder and the current rushed eagerly with her. And then a jolt tore through her body and a small gasp sent bubbles up towards the surface. Frantically she looked down to her where her ankle had been wrapped around the kelp. She reached down wincing as the dark green matter began to tighten around her ankle. _Air._ The kelp tightened its grip on her as the current tore her in the other direction. _Air. I need air._ Din had reached her now, his viroblade already in his hand as he grabbed hold of her on his way up. She watched him hack at the thick green kelp with no apparent success. The burn in her lungs began to bloom and her mind raced. He had been right. They had gotten so far, but he was right. She felt the temple below calling, she felt it like the kelp wrapped around her ankle dragging her below.

If her lungs were about to burst so was his. Biting down the horrible burning she took out her own blade and pushed him away. _You should have thought of this sooner,_ she thought stupidly. Her mind felt fuzzy. Rushed. _Air. I need air._ She watched as he floated above and gripped a beam to stay near, watching as Azree cut at the kelp. With a rush she was heading for the surface again. _Idiot. Idiot. Keep calm. Air. Idiot._ The surface was so close. Only the hole in the hull to pass through. The sunlight was almost burning from here. No kelp. She kicked harder. Din passed through first, busting through with ease. She followed. _Air._

Then another jolt. Azree wanted to scream. Pain erupted up her leg and her boot wouldn’t budge from its lodging. She watched Din break the surface above, a wave crashing over him and push him towards the shore. She looked down. Her boot. Boot was caught on beam. She kicked. She reached down. Gods her lungs were going to explode. She gasped desperately. Water flooded her mouth. Frantically she pulled at her laces. She gasped again. More water. She gulped it down and tried to reach up to the air above. The current wanted her there. It tugged at her heavy clothes, urging her to just shake free and float to the surface. But panic began to clutch at her mind. More and more water flooded her lungs as things faded. _What a sad way to go,_ she thought as something silver flickered through the dim light. Her body shuddered with a convulsion. _I’ll never even hear him say I told you_


	10. Kin

**~O~O~O~O~**

**Chapter 10: Kin**

“Does anyone know CPR?” he growled.

They stood around him, what eyes he could see were wide with shock. The two of them shook their heads numbly. Quintin even managed to mutter, “It’s pretty primitive.”

Din’s blood boiled. Biting back a nasty remark he growled raggedly, “Turn around and don’t you dare fucking look.”

They listened, Talia scooping up the kid and pulled him against her chest. Around them the air was still, the loud crashing of the waves against the shore sounded like a heartbeat there to mock him. He couldn’t believe what he was doing, his helmet falling to the side of her head as he stopped the compressions and dropped to breathe air into her lungs. It was taking too long, she wasn’t responding. He returned to compressions. The small sounds of distress coming from the kid only fueled his urges. He had to restrain himself to not go harder or he was worried he’d kill her – if she made it through this there would be enough bruising that he’d hate himself.

“I can’t do this without you, don’t you dare give up on us,” he growled at her. How could she be so selfish, so careless?

Then she spluttered, water dribbled down her chin. He kept going, fearful that if he stopped for a moment he would lose her. _I’m not going to lose you._ Then she squeezed her eyes tight and coughed through a lungful of water. He took her by the shoulders and helped to one side. His heartbeat ran wild before it froze. It wasn’t her fault. It had been something he’d never even thought of from her. For a second, they locked eyes. He saw her vivid blue eyes widen as so many emotions raced across her expressive face, then they stilled as she turned her head and threw up seawater.

“Is she okay?” asked Quintin, he looked about to turn.

“Don’t look,” she rasped between splutters. Din held her body as best he could, rubbing her back as she coughed raggedly.

 _So that was it._ He thought numbly. _Was that all there was to it._ It all seemed relatively anticlimactically now the moment had numbly passed.

She was moving, her eyes held tightly together as she tossed her hand around weakly for his helmet. “Din, put your –“

“Azree.”

“Just do it, gods dammit,” she heaved curling into a ball and clutching at her stomach.

He huffed, picking up the sodden thing and shook the sand from around the rim. _I shouldn’t do this. It’s not the way._ She groaned, clutching painfully at her stomach as she took rasped breaths. _I’ve already broken rules for her before, I guess this can be the last one._

“You can look now,” he muttered dejectedly. Talia went straight for Azree, the child in her arms reached out desperately towards him. Din couldn’t place it, but somehow, he knew the kid was feeling his untethered state. He hung his head in shame. How could he protect his clan, his family, without his helmet? “I need to be alone; I’ll meet you back at the ship,” he muttered catching Quintin looking at him as he brushed past.

**~O~O~O~O~**

By the time he reached the Razor Crest she was already staggering, hot on his heels. “Din,” she called out following him as he entered the small bunk. He reached up and twisted it with a hiss before pulling the helmet off. Behind him, he heard her close the door and lock it. The disapproving look she shot him burnt through his back.

“It has sand in it,” he shrugged dismissively.

“Din, I never wanted to –“

“I made the choice,” he said turning around to see her. She was beautiful in her broken state. Her wet hair streaked across her face with eyes red rimmed from the salt. Without thinking he stepped forward and took one of her hands in his. “No one else could do it, and it was your life or this,” he continued tossing the helmet onto their bunk. _Their bunk. Does she judge me? Am I handsome enough for her?_ He’d never felt shy before. Not about appearances. Was it why his chest felt so constricted? Slowly he turned his gaze from the bunk towards her, uneasy in the way her eyes never left his face. Suddenly he had no idea what she was feeling, what she was thinking. Everything had changed in one small moment.

“My Ma would like you,” she said softly stepping forward to take his other hand between hers. She pulled the wet gloves off his hands and placed them neatly on the small shelf beside the bed. “She always said people relied too much on health droids, that we were losing our human touch… Also, you saved her little girl. Again.”

“You remember your parents?” he asked, surprised she’d never mentioned them before.

“Well,” she continued as a shy smile came onto her lips. “I always hoped that you would meet them. I think Ma would like you best, but my father would come around after a classic stoic moment… Do you think of your parents often?”

Din was surprised. He didn’t know why, but he always assumed her parents had died like his had. He imagined them with the stiff bodies and trauma floating on board the Simpatico. The heat began to creep up his neck as he looked away from her, that sweet innocent gaze of hers and her touch would have normally calmed him. Now he felt exposed, open and drifting in space. “I… Yeah, I remember bits about them. My mother’s eyes were green with these flecks of gold in them and her hands were kind. I got my father’s nose… he was always working, almost never off the job…” He trailed off lost in faded memories of his parent’s that didn’t surround The Purge. It had been years since he thought of them in any other form than those last moments. He had almost forgotten the mundane memories that he should have cherished.

She pulled one hand free and ran it over his jaw, brushing a thumb over the slope of his cheekbone. “I always thought you had a handsome soul,” she said softly. “It matches your handsome face.”

He looked away from her, letting her hand fall away from his face. “Please don’t,” he said thickly. _I need time to figure this out._

“Surely there had to be exceptions on Mandalore – what if you were partners with someone? How do Mandalorian’s raise children? You said you remember your mother’s eyes and your father’s nose. Din, this is your life. I – I…” she trailed off and he heard the hurt in her voice. He wanted to comfort her… tell her that this wasn’t her fault, because it wasn’t. But he was pummeled numb.

“We’re warriors, and that is how I was raised as well,” he said dropping his face to his hands.

“You’re saying that there are no exceptions, there have never been _any_?”

He groaned and rubbed at his temples. Stiffness radiated between his shoulder blades and corrupted all the muscles in his body. _Of course there have been,_ he thought. It was what made looking at her impossible as he tried to find a way to say the words she was forcing from him. _This is too fast. It doesn’t matter how long we’ve been travelling or what I feel - this is too fast. It will freak her out. It will push her away and then you’ll have no creed, no clan, no her._

She dropped to her knees on the ground in front of him and pulled his hands into hers, kissing lightly across his scarred knuckles. “Din, please. What is it?”

He growled one last time and steeled his chest. “If you’re bound for life, if you are to raise a child together… there’s some small exceptions – but it has to be approved, and it is for life.”

Something inside dared him to look her in the eye. It was the same courageous impulse that kept him from balking as she nodded slowly and turned to face him. “Who can approve it? This – this is different from a marriage, right?”

 _Is that a- Is she okay with this?_ His attention flickered to the Mudhorn necklace she wore around her neck. She was part of his clan, maybe in a way she had already accepted forever with him? “The closest person to who could agree would be The Armourer.”

“Back in Nevarro?” she asked incredulously. “I guess that way we could drop Talia off on some planet,” she muttered trailing off while her bright blue eyes narrowing in thought. “We would have to be careful seeing as the Imperial ships keep finding us, and –“

“Wait,” he interrupted taking her hands again and pulling her back to him. She looked up with bright wide eyes, hopelessly blue and glittering with flakes that looked like snow and galaxies at once. It was the only strong hint he had that she couldn’t be fully human. He didn’t care. His chest felt tight with hope and dread. “Are you agreeing. Would you really want to spend the rest of your life with me? – because there’s not a halfway with this. I can’t offer you an easy life.”

She seemed nervous, bright and brimming with something wild. “I…” she swallowed and ducked her head before looking up to him. “I love you, silly,” she said breathlessly. “You’re right. Forever doesn’t seem too bad.”

He opened his mouth to respond, stumped by her response. _I love you too._ She sat in front of him, watching nervously as the glow around her dimmed. _I’m taking too long to speak,_ he realised as she opened her own mouth to say something. Without thinking he leapt to her lips and his mouth crashed against hers. She tasted salty and sweet. He pulled away quickly. “I-“

A loud banging rattled against the door. “Guys, we’ve got heat coming in quick!”

“Never a moment,” Azree laughed humourlessly and planted a kiss on his forehead as she grabbed his helmet. “So, it’s a plan, back to Nevarro. If you-”

The Razor Crest powered up around them with a shudder that sent her back into his arms. “I love you too,” he said watching the way her red rimmed eyes lit up, the smile that crossed her face making her glow. _Kriff if only we had a moment,_ he thought wanting nothing more than to pull her clothes off and hold her. “I have to go,” he said pulling the salty helmet onto his head and grabbed the wet gloves as she opened the door. “Make sure our kid is okay?” he asked as he dashed to the cockpit. She trailed after, a rosy smile on her cheeks.

**~O~O~O~O~**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ooooh mate, do I have a plan for this story and I'm so excited to write it!  
> Sorry for the late update, it's been a very busy Birthday week in lockdown. Also, obviously, I'm taking some creative liberties with Mandalorian lore and customs. :)  
> Stay safe and wash your hands!


	11. Life

“Would you rather… be in a cantina band or…”

“I’m just going to stop you there.”

“Okay? But I mean, that’s not how you play, Quintin.”

“I know, it doesn’t matter. The answer is right there in the question,” he chuckled. The little one sitting at their makeshift table laughed with him, dropping his small green paws onto the table in a dramatic manner Azree was sure he had picked up from Talia. The woman of mention smiled from her own bunk, dark eyes sad despite the warmth of her smile.

“Okay, so I guess you don’t want to retire on your own cruiser sailing across the Lothal plains, then” she shrugged levitating a piece of fruit into the little one’s open mouth. He scrunched up his nose and let the piece of orange fruit fall out of his mouth and into his lap. “Don’t like the melon huh? Fair enough, we found a few frogs and put them in the tank for you.”

“Would you rather,” Quintin started from his place in the hammock. He hummed in thought, leaning his head over the lip and watched as she went to the old fish tank that had been converted into a habitat for a range of different frogs. The kid clapped excitedly as she pointed to one and then another, judging which one he wanted. “Be a mother, or a Jedi knight?”

“Quintin,” she growled lifting the top hatch and levitating one out of the tank.

“What?”

She narrowed her eyes at Quintin and let the frog drop to the ground. It wasn’t the cleanest surface, but she’d never been able to stop the little one from swallowing those jumping critters on dirtier planets. And he enjoyed chasing after them, so she guessed it must be good for him somehow.

“I think you make a good mother,” he continued, still leaning out from the hammock.

She took a seat and tossed a piece of melon up to Quintin, very aware of the present tense of his sentence. He pulled his banged-up helmet backwards just enough to catch it with his mouth before letting the helmet slide back over his chin. She caught the faintest sight of a ragged scar cut across his face and wondered if that was why he had yet to take it fully off. They’d spent years apart; he’d clearly had a life full of action. _And love,_ she hoped. It was strange to think of her Mandalorians as insecure, but life had been very chaotic lately and she wasn’t about to go around making assumptions.

“Have you ever thought about having one?”

“A kid?” he asked, sitting back in the hammock so quickly it swung. He paused in distant thought. “I thought maybe once, but life on the outside like ours… it’s not really fair on the little one, is it?”

“Maybe you’re right. Look how you turned out,” she teased tossing another piece of melon at him, but it was a wide shot and when he reached out to grab it with a chuckle, the hammock swung and tipped him out hard onto the ground.

“Oi,” he grumbled lightly.

The frog leaped onto Quintin’s back and the kid giggled, waddling over as fast as his little green legs would take him. He crawled over Quintin and jumped on the frog, getting the slippery green critter between his paws and then up to his mouth.

“You’re going to have to wait until he’s finished,” Azree said sternly and folded her arms. “It’ll give you some time to sit and think about what you just said.”

He huffed but made no motion to move. “Well then, your answer?”

“Quintin,” she grumbled and put the last few pieces on a plate for Din.

“What? We’re heading back into Imperial heat for some reason. You’re traditional in that old fashion kinda sense. Is there a bit of a bump in the road?” he asked, reaching around with difficulty to rub his lower back in circles.

“What are you doing?”

“I’m – It’s a – Well it would be my belly, but I can’t move so it’s-“

She rolled her eyes and walked over him to the cockpit ladder. “Watch the little one would you,” she grumbled.

As she reached the top, Din’s voice came through the ship’s speakers. “We’re coming into a port for refuelling. ETA five.”

“Hungry?” she asked as the door closed behind her.

He turned and watched her lean against his chair as she placed the plate in his lap. Reaching over he punched in a code into something on the console before turning back to her. Azree shifted awkwardly and with a lingering touch motioned back to the door. “I’ll go check the-“

“It’s okay. I locked the door,” he brought his gloved hands to the silver helmet and twisted. With a slight hiss of pressure, he removed the beskar and placed it on the console next to him. “Talia suggested we sell those crystals and split it three ways,” he said picking up a piece of the melon suspiciously. “Thanks for the…”

“Melon.”

“Fruit?” he asked skeptically.

With a smile she nodded. It was strange to see the emotions she had imagined on his face for so long actually on his face. _I probably shouldn’t stare for too long_ , she thought turning away to take her seat. It wasn’t before he brought the cubed piece to his lips and instantly recoiled. She repressed a chuckle as he eyed the plate apprehensively. _Like father, like son._

“Do you think there would be a buyer here? It’s still pretty remote in a remote galaxy.”

He let out a tired sigh and shrugged. “Honestly, I don’t think so. But once we refuel and restock, we’ll have enough to get back to the outer rims. There will be black market buyers there.”

The strange black planet came closer, rotating past the sun to glitter in the void of space. Something icy and uncomfortable came over her. It itched up her spine until she couldn’t withhold it. “This planet,” she said quietly. “I feel like Jedi have died on this planet.”

The man next to her went oddly stiff, his face hardening as he looked between the approaching planet and her blank stare. “Did you feel this before?”

She shook her head. “I felt there was an unseen danger, but it felt faint like it was sleeping. Now it feels like it has been awoken, but… it’s not here anymore. It’s moved on, but the cold lingers.”

“There was something that I didn’t share with you before,” he admitted, not meeting her eye as he picked shyly at the melon. “To be fair I forgot about it after I put it away…”

Azree frowned, waiting until he looked back up at her. “What is it?”

He looked at the planet, now filling their vision. “I need to show you. When we land.”

She nodded numbly, taking the plate from him and watched as he tried to smile before putting on the silver helmet. It was more unsettling than reassuring.

Their approach was smooth and when they landed in the junkyard of the small settlement it seemed without incident. Din and Quintin both went to talk to the droid who took the few credits they’d scrapped from their last job here for fuel. There was a small amount left for hard black rations that would last them until they entered the outer rim. It all felt like it dragged out and stayed constant in the moment at once. Azree paced in the open hangar, her eyes never leaving his silver form. An anxiousness had built up around the walls of her chest and with each breath she felt the weight collapsing around her. _What does he need to show me?_

“Okay, we’ve got an hour,” he said coming back into the hangar as Quintin climbed on top of the Razor Crest to keep watch on the skies. Din took her hand and led her back up to the cockpit. Without pausing he got to his knees and reached up under the console. He pulled back revealing a pure black blade.

A shiver ran down her spine and she felt the strange smoky element race through her veins, drawing her hand to pull the cold thing into her hands. There was fire, a volcanic heat that surged through her fingers as the blade settled in her hands. _Power and pain…_ She felt both twist around her wrist as she stepped back and let the blade reveal itself.

“No way,” she gasped dropping it and stepping back until she hit the wall of the cockpit. “No, no no. It can’t be.”

“What is it?” he asked, hand poised by his blaster as if shooting the dammed thing would be an option. _Wouldn’t that be sweet._

“That’s a Sith blade,” she whispered shaking her head. Her heart hammered dangerously and the once still element began to stir, vibrating low in her chest until she was almost begging for some form of energy release. _They told me stories, but I never fathomed being this close to making one real._

“What’s a Sith?” he asked stepping around the blade cautiously and took her hand. “Hey, easy. Breathe with me, okay.”

“What?” she said breathlessly, tearing her eyes away from the wretched thing to the cold black of his visor. Weightlessness pulsed through her body, slowly it felt like she was watching from afar.

“Breathe with me, you’re hyperventilating,” he said calmly and gathered her hands in his. Gently his thumbs rubbed circles in her palms as he took exaggerated, slow breaths. It took her a moment to be aware of her own body, past the wild parasite within her. It took even longer to even out her breathing and push down the mad desire to run into the black plains and explode.

“Sith are an ancient evil, responsible for the fall of democracy and the massacre of the Jedi,” she said quickly. “They trained inquisitors – their lessers who went out to murder anyone who had enough force sensitivity to be a threat. I knew too many good people who lost so much to those monsters…” Azree closed her eyes tightly and tried to swallow the anger that surged through her body.

“So, they are still out there?” he asked pulling her against his chest and holding her there tightly. She nodded, letting her head fall against his hard, cold armour. “Have you ever faced one?”

“Never. And we should keep it that way,” she pulled away and looked back to the black thing lying on the floor. “I can’t believe it’s been here all this time and I didn’t sense it… Din, we have to get rid of it. Hide it somewhere that no one will ever find it.”

He nodded, gaze not quite on her and she felt the troubled haze of his thought. “Leave it to me.” In a gentle movement he touched the nape of her neck and brought the hard forehead of his helmet to rest against hers. “Stay here with the ship. If anything happens get Quintin to fly you all out of trouble. I won’t be long.”

“Din.”

“It’ll be okay, I promise.”

~O~O~O~O~

“I have to ask,” Quintin said leaning back in the co-pilot seat. Outside the dusty ring of moons circled around the red gas giant. _One of those yellow moons is Kazaroon_ , Din thought distantly. It felt like years ago. Things had been so different then. “How’d you know how to do it?”

Din tilted his head to watch the other Mandalorian, only half aware of their conversation. “Do what?”

The other Mandalorian bounced his head from shoulder to shoulder and rolled his hand, as if to pull the answer from his own mouth without having to say it. He never seemed all that shaken, always more casual than what seemed appropriate. Din couldn’t help but wonder where he was trained. “You know, get the water out of her lungs… I don’t think I need to say how hard it would be to learn something like that with these things on our heads.”

“And yet you say it,” Din retorted, but it was hard to sound harsh with the hidden smile on his lips. He was gradually warming up to the other Mandalorian, sure he wasn’t the greatest companion, but he was far from the worse. With time he had grown to enjoy having Quintin sit up in the cockpit and harass him with questions and stories. _I guess that’s what five months of travel will do to you._ “I saw someone do it once. They explained the basics, the theory around it, but that was the first time I’ve actually done it.”

“Crazy man,” Quintin laughed, his finger wagging at him as the motion made his whole-body jostle. “I like a man with a little crazy in him.”

Din shifted awkwardly in the pilot’s seat, unable to place the warmth blooming in his chest. “Thanks?”

~O~O~O~O~

“Don’t you two go crazy up here,” Azree chuckled giving Quintin a knowing look as a blush bloomed on Talia’s cheeks.

“Huh? Oh, like you haven’t,” he grumbled, exasperated.

With a chuckle, Azree stole one last glance at the graveyard of ships and asteroids inching past. The discarded metal guts of long dead ships scattered across the channel. There was a cold grip on this place and icy fingers stretched out to lace around the Razor Crest as it passed.

She descended into the hangar, checking on the small sleeping figure of the little one before slipping into their bunk room. “Hey,” she said softly closing the door behind her.

“Hey,” he muttered, standing up from the edge of the bunk to face her. The lamp in the corner lit up the small space in a dim yellow light. It reflected dully off the edges of his armour and cast his helmet in shadows. Something in her stomach felt like a ball of butterflies about to explode up into her throat. _Gods it’s a tight space in here isn’t it._ He turned and slowly took off the helmet before placing it on the small shelf, gingerly removing the pieces of his chest armour as he proceeded. Quietly she edged forward and helped him, letting her fingers trail across the roughened scars and hardened muscles of his back. _God he’s gorgeous,_ she thought kissing as she went until he was in nothing but his pants. The hard muscles of his back were tense, and she could taste the unusual taint of nervousness radiating from him.

“What’s wrong,” she said softly, wrapping her arms around him from behind and placed her head between his shoulder blades. “You seem nervous.”

“How do you always do that?” he chuckled, but it sounded hollow.

She lifted her head to his kiss his back. “I want you to know,” she started slowly between kisses. “I don’t want you to do anything you don’t feel comfortable with. If you want me to wear a blindfold, or if you want to keep the lights off, I don’t mind.”

“It’s not your fault,” he said with a sigh.

“Din –“

“I’m not used to…" he turned around to face her. His shoulders pulled tight and the muscles of his bare chest heaved with each agitated move. He motioned between the two of them. “I’m not used to this, let alone how intense it feels. And then suddenly I don’t have anything between us. It’s scary and I feel this weird uncomfortable sensation that makes me doubt myself and that’s new. I don’t like it.” He paused breathlessly and looked up from his hands to where she had taken a seat on the bunk. “Not that – Not that I don’t want you, kriff I want you so bad. And I would do anything to make sure you are safe and happy. None of this on you, it’s just… dammit I’m rambling.”

With a sigh his shoulders slumped dejectedly. Azree smiled softly and took his hands so she could pull him into the bunk next to her. “Don’t worry about me, Din,” she said kissing his cheek softly and brought her hands up to rub his shoulders. “I understand how foreign it feels. It’s scary for me too, but I know it’ll be okay. You don’t have to carry it all yourself.”

They sat in silence for a long moment. One hand intertwined while the other traced distant lines across each other’s skin. Slowly his nervous haze melted away to be replaced by a spring smile, shy and full of promise. It illuminated the spark in his smooth coffee eyes. Gingerly she crawled backwards and into their small single person cot, dragging him along with her. “When was the last time you had a massage?” she asked softly, kissing up along his neck.

He chuckled. “Never.”

“Never?!” she exclaimed pulling away to watch his bashful expression.

“Well,” he motioned to his armour as if it explained everything. “It’s not exactly a spa resort life is it?”

She shook her head and jumped up, “I’ll be right back. I need to go grab something,” she explained tossing a sheet over his head before dashing out of the small room. It took her a moment to locate the small bottle of oil, discarded deep in a side pocket of her rucksack of things. She almost crashed into the door as she charged back to their small bunk room and jumped onto their bed. He watched her, a humoured look of disbelief softening his warm features. A youthful part of her was excited to treat him to this new experience, the hopeful sensation that she could ease away his worries and pain with a simple massage.

“What’s that?” he asked, leaning against the two thin pillows and the cold metal wall.

“Oil. Cedarwood and rosemary,” she explained opening the bottle and taking a deep sniff before holding it out for him to smell. “Now lie down on your stomach and take off your pants.”

“My pants, huh?” he said teasingly with a lift of his right eyebrow. “Do you have ulterior motives, Azrael?”

She smiled coyly and with a chuckle he complied, discarding the fabric down on the floor of the bunk and put his hands behind his head. “You going to get naked too?” he asked holding her still with a smoldering gaze. Heat began to drip dangerously down her throat to pool in the pit of her stomach. She shifted so her thighs would press together tighter, an action he certainly noticed. It wasn’t like she could ignore his brazen posture. The way he placed his hands behind his head just made everything – by some inconceivable notion – bigger. _Gods, how can one man go from being so exposed to being… well so exposed._

“Yes,” she said watching as he brought his lower lip between his teeth. “But only after you lie down on your stomach.”

He raised an eyebrow cautiously but complied with her demands. As he did, she too pulled away her clothes and tossed them in a heap in the corner. Swinging a bare leg over his lower back so she could straddle him, she dripped the cool thick liquid in a line down his spine all the way down the curve of his arse. With a mischievous smack she brought her hand down on the perfect cheek and chuckled as his head tried to whip around to look at her. “Don’t worry,” she said, pushing his head back into his arms and the pillows. “It isn’t all like that. I just couldn’t help myself.”

“Sounds like you,” he teased lifting his head for a moment before she pushed into his shoulders and dug her thumbs deep along his tense muscles. He let out an earthy moan but tightened underneath her.

“Easy there,” she said working gently on both of his shoulders. “You’re supposed to relax.”

“It’s a different sensation,” he hummed.

“If you really want to enjoy it,” she said, easing between strong deep strokes and soft circles. “You’re going to have to open up and accept it.”

She dipped her hands over the round shape of his shoulders and down to his collar bones, her thumbs pushing along across the nape of his neck. A deep vibration emitted from his chest and sent a shudder of pleasure through her. Gingerly she worked up and down his back, unraveling the ribbons of tense muscles until the knots smoothed and he became putty in her hands. The soft falls of their breathing and the low hum of pleasure seemed amplified in their long silence. Eventually she moved further down, taking a moment to appreciate the roundness of his cheeks before running her fingers down the long lines of his legs.

“Should it feel like I’m floating?” he mumbled lowly, his head lolling to one side so he could watch her work on the lines of his calf muscles. She turned watch his half-lidded eyes, a lazy smile across his lips.

“Yes,” she whispered back and shook out the tension collecting between the joints of her fingers before slipping over to his other side and began working on his other calf. It had been an interesting time to explore the small cuts and explosion of scars across his body. Part of her wanted to know the story behind them all, but after so many how could you keep count? It was a sad insight into the dangerous and lonely life he had lived. She’d felt incredibly grateful for the trust he placed in her. It gave a terrifying tug on her heart, the idea that he had spent most of his life behind an armour no one could penetrate… and then she came around in and in less than a year he’d opened up. She’d never wanted anything to last forever, she’d never truly cradled the hope of anything lasting for long after the event on Simpatico. He’d made her open up as well.

“Can I ask you something?” she said softly, running her hands up along his body and pulling the blanket with her as she went. Curling up next to him she smiled up as his sleeping form. “Maybe another day then.” With a kiss against his temple she slipped an arm over his waist and drifted off to gentle dreams.


	12. Macabre

A cold washed over the cockpit biting deep into his bones. The child sitting in Talia’s lap moaned in pain and reached out to Din and Azree. The tightly packed cockpit stiffened in the palpable tension.

“Easy there,” Azree said, taking him quickly from Talia. The Razor Crest jostled briefly as it burned through the atmosphere. Din risked a quick look over to them as he moved to flick at some switches. “I feel it too.”

“Bad?” Din asked, bringing his hands back to the wheel. The smoke in the atmosphere was making it hard to see anything, and the thick black plumes were not easing. He poised, ready to pull them back out of the atmosphere and into the emptiness of space. They’d be able to make just one more small jump through hyperspace, but it would be cold – cold enough for him to worry about how the kid would take it. Fuel was in desperate need, something he knew Azree also understood. But she had a better sense of what might lay in wait for them through the falling ash. He trusted her to make that call.

The lines around her mouth tightened and she burrowed her brows, bending down to place a reassuring kiss on the little one’s forehead. Then she turned to face him. “It’s bad, there’s pain… but I can’t sense whatever caused it. It must have moved on…”

He nodded and dove them down to a landing pad. “I want you two to stay close to me,” he said, as the smoke cleared enough to see the shredded port below. He didn’t think the sight of it would make him feel sick to his gut, but guilt draped heavily on his shoulders. Despite the carnage his eyes found the supply store he and Mazra had visited. _Still mostly intact,_ he thought. His last vision of her burned behind his eyes, her hard-blue form torn and limp in the hot yellow sand. It had been his fault, and the way he had treated her in the short time he’d known her was reminiscent of his old ways. Old ways he wanted to leave behind. _I’m sorry,_ he thought in a silent prayer to her and then turned to look at Azree. She’d been treated just as badly, and he’d never tried to ease that pain for her. It tore at his fragile heart. _I need to make it up to her._

“Are you sure?” she asked, her own eyes looking across the debris. Despite it, life still crawled through the grime left behind. What remained bustled nervously through the streets and clung to some semblance of restoring normality.

 _“Imperials?”_ Talia signed, her heavy brow turning to Quintin standing at the other side of the cockpit. He shook his head, hands resting on his guns.

“No. This was a raid,” he said tilting his head briefly towards Azree who seemed lost in thought. His gaze quickly turned to Din’s and with a sharp motion back to her he spoke, “We should make this quick and leave.”

The Razor Crest hit the ground with a shudder and Din nodded _._ “Quintin and I will deal with the fuel situation, then we can go get supplies. Talia, if you want to make that trade, I suggest you go now. Let’s be off this rock before nightfall.”

The small crew nodded in agreement. Talia turned to the small child in Azree’s arms and smiled tightly. _“I’ll see you soon kid. Look after them for me while I’m gone?”_ The little one mumbled something incoherent and grabbed her large finger between his two paws. With one quick look to Quintin she disappeared down into the hangar.

“I’ll go get ready too,” Azree said quietly. “I’ll meet you down there,” she continued following Talia. He went to reach out and take her hand, something about her distant demeanour made him want to bring her back to his chest and hold her there tightly. As if sensing his movement, Quintin stepped between them and shook his head to Din.

Irritation trickled down his spine and left a sour taste in his mouth. As the doors closed behind her, he growled, “What was that look?”

The other Mandalorian shifted on his feet, hands never leaving his guns as he looked out at the mess of a port. “Walk and talk,” he motioned towards the door. “But what I tell you – don’t go telling Azrael. This shit, this will undo her.”

Without further explanation he moved out to the hangar. “Be quick about it,” he snapped jumping down the ladder. _Always too casual until he starts making orders,_ Din thought following the man’s example as fast as was possibly decent. The unusual seriousness of the Mandalorian was disturbing. Already he was beginning to wonder how this was linked with Azree. Had those horrible creatures from Zazaroon attacked? It had seemed like Quintin had dealt with them before. But why cross the graveyard for a raid?

Din paused as he passed her, ignoring the Mandalorian hovering around him like a blowfly. “Are you okay?” he asked, helping her with the wrapping for the little one.

“I think so,” she said, and took his hand. “There’s just a lot of different feelings going on right now.”

He squeezed her hand and rubbed gentle circles at tension points. “If it will be too much, you don’t have to come with me. Quintin will stay with the ship. I just want you both to be safe.”

With a shake of her head she pulled on a reassuring smile. “I think he wants to chat,” she chuckled, a weightless chime that broke the tension swimming in the air between them. “I’ll be fine, I promise.”

He nodded, wishing he could bend down and kiss her. Then he turned to follow the other Mandalorian out of the hangar and into the haze of smoke. Even through the filter of his mask he could smell the thick tang of burning bodies in the air. The dirty aroma of singed hair filling his senses. “Explain what we’re up against,” Din grumbled making his way towards the port operator. A couple of droids scrambled towards them. “No droids,” he shouted, and the small rusty things scattered around him. The operator lifted his thick flabby arms in protests and grumbled something about efficiencies. “No droids, and all we need is a refuel. No repairs.”

With a grumble and a moan, the operator lumbered closer on two stocky legs and held out one of his many thick orange hands for payment. Quintin tossed him a coin bag. “Take it and make it quick. We’ll take an extra barrel of fuel also.”

The operator tried to pretend like it would just cover the cost, but the heavy clunk of credits was hard to ignore. Quintin took Din by the arm and led him further away from the Razor Crest. Together they stepped into the shadow of a charred column and Quintin looked around quickly. “This raid was from Reavers. I feel it in my bones.”

“Reavers?” Din let the moment of disbelief wash over him. Suddenly he felt foolish for letting them land. “Like the ones that attacked the Simpatico?”

“They go by a few names, but they say these monsters can’t be sensed by the Jedi. That’s why when they attacked Azree’s ship they decimated them. I’ve-“ he paused and took a deep shuddering breath. Din didn’t need to have powers to feel the stench of fear on the man. He was acting out of character, but that fear he knew from the vague stories was well placed. “I’ve been in one of these towns before. After the first run you think you’re safe, but…” He turned to look at the port operator, moving as fast as he seemed capable of. He paused for a second and waved all his four free hands at the small kid and Azree, and for a moment the little one smiled and waved back. “All these people will die. Those beasts are not prone to leaving something without stripping it to the bone. They’re not here for family heirlooms, they’ll pick away at this town until there’s no one else to eat.”

Cannibalism was hardly something new in the universe, but it sent a similar chill through his body. “We should let them know,” Din said.

Quintin’s hand shot out to grab Din’s and with a surprising amount of strength he pushed him back against the column, his hand squeezing tightly in a clear threat. With an easy stride forward, he pushed himself deep into Din’s personal space. “Sure. After he refuels us, but we don’t have time to tell everyone and we can’t risk Azrael finding out,” Quintin said darkly.

“These are innocent people,” Din said, pushing back. The sudden vacuum of space between them felt stranger than their proximity. It made his head spin. “They deserve a chance.”

“And I respect how noble that sounds. Now listen to a survivor. Don’t. Be. An. Idiot. You should be scared.” He shoved Din away leaving a cold sensation crawling across his skin. He turned to watch the other Mandalorian sauntering away, hands poised dangerously close to his blasters. As he reached the Razor Crest Azree tried to reach out to him, but he shrugged her off and after pulling his rifle into his back, climbed up on top of the Razor Crest to scan the skies.

“What did he say?” Azree grumbled, looking back over her shoulder to his lonely figure. “He seemed so bitter.”

“He doesn’t want us to help these people,” Din said, taking her hand and guided her into the rubble of the streets towards the supply store. “He thinks they’ll come back.”

Azree nodded softly and turned her head to look at the little one strapped to her back. He pulled at her silver braids in agitation, making small cooing noises. “It’s more of a terrorist tactic than a smart raid,” she muttered as they clambered over a wall of broken brick that was tossed into the street. “People would surely leave or hide with their precious things after the first attack.”

“Whatever it is... Dammit he’s right.” They paused at the main street, blanching at the gruesome scene. There had obviously been a run of blaster fire up along this street. There were still puddles of blood pooling in the dirt, scattering up the walls as life had been shot down. He caught the sight a limb lying discarded in a far alleyway – the body it belonged to had long since been dragged away. Din hoped whoever it belonged to was long dead before the worst of the horrors began.

“Let’s make this quick,” he said picking up the pace to the supply store. The scattered life that remained shied away as they walked, their wide eyes milky with terror as they moved to do strange tasks. One woman he saw kept walking into a wall headfirst, her forehead a bloody pulp but otherwise unconcerned with her actions. No one moved to stop her, too concerned with their own lethargic disbelief.

“They’re in shock,” she muttered going to help the strange woman.

He took her hand and pulled her back on their course. The supply hut was now in sight. “What are you doing?” she grumbled angrily. “You said you wanted to help.”

“I know what I said, but those people have given up already.”

They walked around a bloody puddle and entered the supply store that had been badly blasted in the attack. Thick black streaks of carbon scoring accompanied holes along the walls. Inside the owner was busy with a thimble of a man, his robes blacked by the smoke and the thick whip of his ginger hair was dishevelled. The lad was pointing to something and speaking awfully fast, his formal tone sparking some memory.

“We’ll be locked up with the books and prophet of cause,” he explained to the owner who didn’t seem to appreciate the chatter. “Important to keep the future safe. Oh, the prophecies. It couldn’t have been stopped, sadly poetic that the peacekeepers ignite war. And when the creature died it was awful! A hot volt of electricity tore through the castle and struck it down in the cage, turning it into this thick oozing wax. A surprise to be sure, that those cursed beasts would all die at the same time. Awful – truly awful. Oh my!” He leapt into the air and held out a book between his fingers as if it would protect him. “Travellers?” he asked, slowly lowering the book as he peered behind it.

“We need supplies,” Din said to the shop keeper, stepping around the strange man. The keeper seemed relieved and nodded eagerly, motioning behind her to the unique assortment of rations and dry goods.

“Take your pick,” she said with an uneasy smile. “But make it quick, we’re leaving soon.”

“AH!” the stranger exclaimed loudly and leapt towards Azree and the kid. In a fluid motion Din grabbed the twig by the back of his shirt and tossed him up against the wall, his blaster poised against his short pale neck. The ginger gasped, wide eyes and mouth bobbing open and closed like a fish out of water. “Yes, I remember you both now. Admittedly she was – and is - much nicer than you, but such is the way with Mandalorians isn’t it?” he eventually muttered.

“How do you know us,” Din threatened pushing the blaster deeper into the scrawny pulse point of the stranger.

“We talked!” he squealed, the pitch of his voice lifting higher and higher. “I work with the Guardian of Futures. I warned your lovely companion here about the war.”

“I remember,” Azree said softly and touched Din’s shoulder. “It’s okay, please.”

Din let the kid go and holstered his blaster, turning back to the owner cautiously. He listened to their conversation as he ordered their rations. The keeper behind the bar quickly tossed items into a woven sack, her eyes always dancing to the door nervously. Din couldn’t help but let his own eyes shift to the door at the far room leading to a small hold of boxes. It pushed heavily against his chest, draping his heart with guilt.

“What happened?” he heard Azree ask. For the briefest moment he went to interject, but the redhead and already began rambling.

“Oh well, there was a fork in the prophecy and the path of war was chosen. The cursed had their curse lifted and it destroyed all of their species. Despite their unfavourableness – they were gatekeepers to the Yuuzhan Vong race. Now they are free to spill into this galaxy.”

“The Yuuzhan Vong?” Azree asked, her brow furrowing as Calyoun nodded eagerly.

_They go by a lot of names._

“A nasty lot. Don’t know too much about them, apart from what has been written from survivors. Not a lot of those. Not a lot of sane one’s either. You should leave, if you can… or you are more than welcome to accompany myself back to the castle. It’s further removed from the town and a curious mind such as yourself would have plenty to do. The child too. What an interesting fellow. He does remind me of a-“

“Calyoun,” the woman snapped. “You have ten seconds to tell me what you want and be on your way. I want away with this place.”

She tossed the last of the rations and dry goods into the woven sack and motioned with a hand for payment. The redhead lifted a finger to Azree, “Consider my offer.”

With a small smile Azree looked to Din as he paid what was owed.

“Nine seconds,” the keeper continued counting out the credits sceptically, and then with a final nod tucked them into a pocket.

“Oh dear, what spirits do you have again?”

“We should get moving,” Din said lifting the sack of his shoulder, giving one last look to the strange redhead.

“Wait.” She lingered for a moment, watching the redhead deliberate at the small range while the keeper continued to count down.

“Oh! I’ll take it all, add it to the bag kind shopkeep!”

“You know my name,” she grumbled bringing the three bottles to the box of goods he had already requested. Din wondered if he’d have the strength to carry it all the way out of town.

“Calyoun,” Azree said as he handed the shopkeep a heavy bag of coin and swept up the box. Din couldn’t help but be surprised when the scrawny lad moved it to one arm, so he could put the book in his hands to rest on top of the goods. “Do you need a lift to your…”

“Castle.”

“Castle?”

The redhead grinned widely. “Only if it doesn’t displease your protector here. He’s quite chummy, isn’t he?”

A bubble of laughter slipped from her lips, and she looked up sheepishly towards Din. “I can hear you,” Din stated, but any acid that could have slipped into his tone was dimmed with the affect of her laughter. The guilt and darkness that had been swallowing him lifted and for a moment warmth could gasp a desperate breath of air. “Come, we can make a quick detour.”

“Too kind, too kind!” Calyoun said with a bow. They left the store and braved the dirty haze. “You know, I have been told that I am something of a good luck charm. I have a strange, but undeniable, connection with convenience. Because of that,” Calyoun said as a gentle breeze began to clear the streets, freeing their lungs from the foul smoke. “I think you’ll be glad to have me for a companion.”

“We’re just dropping you off, Calyoun,” Azree said managing the delicate balance of sternness with pleasantries. “There is someone important we have to talk to.”

Din looked down to where she walked beside him, a small smile tugging at his lips as she focused on climbing over the debris. The kid smiled back up at him, wide black eyes watching him carefully. Together they made it back to the Razor Crest uneventfully. Calyoun’s continued chatter seemed to scatter the horrors, the strange woman they had passed previously was now gone, the discarded limb disappeared, the streets were empty. It made Din uneasy.

“So where is this castle of yours?” Din asked, pausing in his stride to watch Quintin sitting atop of the Razor Crest. Having his eyes on the sky and the town eased the unease. If anything were to happen, at least all the people he cared about were close.

“Quite a way,” Calyoun explained. “Over those mountains, and then to the next range.”

“How do you normally get here?” Azree asked frowning.

The redhead shifted the large box of supplies in his hands, and as they entered the hangar placed it down so he could pull the book close to his chest. As he spoke, he poked curiously at the box of crystals and nodded to himself. “Well normally there is a land speeder. It takes a couple of days, but such it has to be. You see – on a note of convenience, I was actually in town to find a bounty hunter. I see there are two of you, but is the one on the roof alright?”

“We don’t have time for a job,” Din said shaking his head, ignoring his question. “After we drop you off, we’re leaving this planet.”

Calyoun nodded. “But if you would entertain the offer, the pay is quite gracious if I do say so. Given the task of cause. We only need you to bring us back a woman who was in our care. She’s a little…” he twirled a finger in circles by his ear. “Well you know. Prophecies will do that to you if you’re not careful, and I can assure your safety. In fact, if what I’ve read is to be true – it will be safer for you to stay for a night, instead of fleeing to space. They pick you off that way.”

Din felt Azree tense, her head tilting slightly as if her mind was spinning something together. The warning Quintin gave him earlier settled against his ribcage. There was a small gurgle from the kid and Din reached out to rub his head. “What do you think?” he asked Azree, watching as her expression shifted. He hoped the question had shifted her attention away from dark memories.

“What’s the pay?” she asked Calyoun, before flicking her gaze up to Din.

He smiled at her, always in awe of her beauty.

“Well, we have happened across some beskar bars. I think it not only poetic that we offer it to you for your service.”

The smile slipped from Din’s lips. “You are either not telling us something, or you’re an idiot to offer beskar bars for a simple job.”

Calyoun chuckled and held the book tighter to his chest. “Well, we want her alive and she’s as crazy as a bag of Loth Cats. But you could see it as covering the cost of escorting me back safely, and if you throw in those crystals we can call it even.”

Azree shook her head and chuckled. “Power of convenience huh?”

He chucked, “It can be very convincing. Would this be agreeable?”

Azree turned to look up to Din, she gave a small nod in agreement from her end. Din folded his arms and squared his stance. If the man did know as much as he implied about the Reavers, then they would be in a win-win situation. The price of choosing wrong was bad. But Calyoun wasn’t the only one here who knew about the Reavers… “If our friend agrees, then we’ll take the job.

The redhead bowed, holding the book tightly to his chest. “Very diplomatic. And while the Mandalorian’s are off doing what they do best, I can show you the library. You won’t go bored, no not for a moment. There is plenty of fascinating books in the library, much history, or spells if you are so inclined. Like this one here, please, look!” He presented the book proudly to Azree.

Bombarded once again by the barrage of his chatter, she spared a quick knowing look up to Din before she took it with delicate hands. Slowly she ran her fingers over the indents and intricate patterns of the cover. The kid cooed as he watched from over her shoulder. “It’s beautiful.”

“Yes, but see here,” his thin ink splattered finger tapped at the thick words written clearly across the cover. “A book of protection! What a find, a spectacular find. And right on this planet – I didn’t have to trek across galaxies for it. You can have a read if you wish, it is my favourite I must say.”

Azree looked up at his bobbing red head before quickly looking back to the book. Din noticed the unusual tension in her shoulders, the off balanced placement of her stance. _Something is making her uncomfortable,_ he instantly recognised and came to stand closer to her. His finger drawn quickly between the kid’s own paws as he tried to move Din’s hand to the loose strands of silver hair. Together they watched as she slowly opened the pages and flicked through them, her eyes searching blankly over the beautiful penmanship.

“Oh! No, flick to that last chapter. Fighting forms for the fierce! I feel a woman with your presence would love such a- no, you’ve passed it. Go forward, you’ve –“ Calyoun let out an irritated huff. Din eased his hand away from the child and moved between them threateningly.

“Stop it would you,” Quintin grumbled, as he swung down from the top of the Razor Crest and into the hangar. Din watched Azree slam the book close and push it back out to the thin redhead. The other Mandalorian prowled closer and took the book before it could return to Calyoun. Din was suddenly aware of how close the three of them were. “May I?” he asked. Unsure of who the question was directed to, it seemed like everyone nodded apprehensively. He quickly thumbed through the book before coming to the chapter and began to read. Din noticed how he held it low, tilted slightly towards Azree and as he read the opening paragraph his finger ran across each word as he said it.

“You can’t read dear?” Calyoun asked, voicing Din’s realisation. Quintin closed the book with a snap that filled the silence that followed. There was an unsaid threat to tread carefully that radiated from Quin. The kid looked between each of the Mandalorian’s and furrowed his brow as if to add his own displeasure to the situation.

“I was blind for 16 years,” Azree confessed shyly. “There are a lot of things I’m having to relearn.”

Calyoun nodded in thought. “There are many histories that have been painted instead of written. I think you and the child would enjoy them just as well.”

Quin pushed the book back into Calyoun’s chest and nodded to the cockpit, “Good. We should get ready to kick off. Talia’s returning. And we’ll take the job, but I’m worried about you Din. You might be getting soft in fatherhood.”

“What do you mean?” he quipped back, taking Azree’s hand for a moment to squeeze before he followed Quintin to the ladder.

“I don’t know, guess it’s just a hunch… friend.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Heya!   
> Sorry for the small absence, I've been really busy lately and struggling a little with my own writing so I took a little time off to enjoy other people's work. Rest assured, there's a handful of chapters waiting for an update next weekend :D


	13. Night Talks

**~O~O~O~O~**

Silver moonlight spilled across the land, painting the quiet forest with a surreal stroke. The gentle sounds of forest life ebbed lowly, as if the small fire crafted their own bubble that nothing dared pass through. Their bounty lay tied to a large fallen branch close to the warmth of the flames. She twitched in her sleep; dark red hair tossed wildly across her pale face as she muttered strange things.

Quintin dropped to one knee and brushed the hair away from her face and draped a blanket across her shoulders despite the warmth of the evening.

“Should we douse the fire?” Din asked, his eyes shifting to the treetops as if he could see past the thick canopy and to the burning horizon. The violent aftermath they had seen this morning seemed a world away from the quiet forest sanctuary, but he didn’t want to risk the attention.

“We’ll be fine,” Quin said quietly. He moved to the backpack and pulled out some dry rations – hard smoked meat. “She’s pretty weak. We might have to carry her the rest of the way tomorrow.”

Din nodded, uneasy with how simple it had been. Yes, it was only one part of a larger deal. But it almost felt like watching the child during one of his playful moods was harder. The way he crawled into small spaces he shouldn’t, giggling until you could lure him out. The bounty didn’t even try to run or hide, she had only fought as they pried her away from the large boulder she had been writing on. _An end to the galaxy has begun. The Sith will rise. It will end with the titans._ It sounded like the ramblings of a doomsday fanatic and previously wouldn’t have worried his thoughts. But he’d heard Calyoun talk, talk of one of those creatures and how they had all died. How they had let some other evil into the galaxy. _Reavers, Yuuzhan Vong, they go by many names. And the Jedi cannot sense them. But to call them titans?_

The fire barked and crackled as with another log was added to the flames. The red light stretched up into the darkness. Quintin stepped away and with a sideways look moved to sit next to Din on their log. Tilting back his head he pulled the helmet up slightly and tossed the piece of meat into his mouth. Din couldn’t help but notice the sharp jagged lines of a scar, tearing across the right of his lip to shatter what little of his face Din glimpsed at. It almost felt like an intrusion. He looked down into the fire and wondered how the kid was doing. He imagined Azree guiding his little paws over pictures in a book as she held him captive in enchanting stories she’d make up. The absence of them caused an ache in his chest.

“Aren’t you hungry?” Quintin asked, moving to sit next to him and offered a stick of jerky. “I can blindfold her, if that’s-“

“No, I’m fine thank you.”

The other Mandalorian shrugged and tipped his head back to awkwardly eat. Din couldn’t help but wonder why he didn’t just take off the helmet to do it – it wasn’t like he was following the creed. He watched from the side of his gaze, intrigued in the strange strategy that man employed. It irritated him, the unknown answer, until he couldn’t help himself. “Why don’t you just take off the helmet?” he asked.

Quintin chuckled, an earthy sound that slid the helmet back over his chin. “Din, are you showing interest in me?” he quipped, mocking horror. “It truly is the end of the world.”

The last of Quintin’s laughter dried up with a crackle from the fire. The amber light spiralled up into the dark abyss of night, soft embers flittering on the easy breeze. Din felt the weight of his question settle in the air around them. As if to counteract the encroaching seriousness, Quintin resumed his confident slouch and brought his hands up to animate the story. “I don’t look as pretty as I used to. I’m sure you noticed the scars.”

“A little, but those are a warrior’s badge. You shouldn’t be ashamed.”

“The doctors did warn me I’d become impossible for a Mandalorian to deny,” he teased, briefly glancing towards Din before standing up to stride to the other side of the fire. Din couldn’t help but watch him as he moved, so light and fluid like the wind between the trees. It made him feel like lead in contrast, an impassable boulder. “But I guess it left some baggage.”

“You’re always so calm and secure, but after five months of travel that’s the only thing I can place on you. Everything else has always been… surprising. When I think that everything is a joke to you, you’re serious – and then it shifts again.”

Quintin laughed, “It’s textbook deflection, Din. Humour as a coping mechanism.”

Din nodded, watching the man through the flames for a moment before dropping his gaze to his hands. He missed Azree and the kid. They had been a constant for so long that he knew, without them near he wouldn’t sleep tonight. He missed the feeling of her soft skin and the warmth of her smile. Always so reasonable, so straight headed but passionate. Years ago, she had known the other Mandalorian in front of him. In their short time together, they’d connected in a way that galaxies and time couldn’t separate them. If anything _ever_ happened to her he’d break. He knew it in his bones, down to his core. It was both terrifying and primal.

“You seem deep in thought,” Quintin observed, coming back to sit next to him. Din didn’t mind the closeness. It made him feel safer.

“After all that time, do you still have feelings for her?” Din asked, turning his gaze away from the heat of the fire. The Mandalorian next to him tensed, his once confident slouch suddenly stiff enough to snap. Din shook his head, “I’m sorry. That was insensitive of me. I just-”

“No,” Quintin said, shaking his head and brought his hand down on Din’s knee. For a brief second the touch felt like static as, with the slightest pressure, he squeezed before pushing it away. “No, not like I did as a kid. I know the difference between love and headless passion now. I’ve moved my pining affections onto someone else,” he explained thickly.

“Are you going to indulge me?” Din pried, still watching the other man carefully.

Quintin turned his helmet to look at him. Din could feel his eyes watching him thoughtfully. Something in the back of his mind was warning him, warning him that there was something behind that unseen look. He could hear it call out warnings on deaf ears.

“Uh, ya know…” Quintin chuckled stiffly.

“Talia?” the words were out of his mouth before Din could think about them.

Quintin shrugged suggestively. “She’s definitely a woman who knows how to handle a man, if you know what I mean. It’s kind of nice to let someone look after you for a change. And we…” he paused, loosening his stiff posture. “Well we talk. It’s nice to have someone who’ll listen.”

During the long journey’s when Quin had come up to talk with him in the cockpit, he’d occasionally talk about something he cared about. Din had come to recognise that tone in his voice through the busted modulator. Hearing it now made him smile, “I’m happy for you, Quin. You know Azree and I want you to stick around, so if Talia makes you happy, we try making the hangar a little more liveable.”

“You ever going to tell us why we’re heading back to Nevarro?” Quin asked, stretching out as a yawn rippled through the modulator.

Din swallowed. “If I tell you…”

“I can’t speak of it ever. We’re friends remember – those are your words – there’s a pact that comes with it,” Quin chuckled. “I just want to know if you two are expecting.”

“Expecting what?”

The chuckle turned into full laughter, loud enough to startle a nearby owl. It hooted disapprovingly before soaring away into the silver moonlight. “You know, baby number dos?”

The thought sent an inferno of heat up Din’s neck. For a second his mind reeled with the possibility, the dangerous thought of simple civilian life. Maybe they would travel to Azree’s planet, he’d meet her parents like she had wanted, and they would settle down. He could help teach the kids how to fight, take the occasional job to stay sharp, and they could be a happy family of four.

“No- no? We’re not – no.”

“Calm down, I’m pulling your leg,” Quintin chuckled. “Come on, spit it out.”

Din took a nervous breath in, “Well, Azree has seen me without my helmet. When she drowned… and there was no other way. So, we’re going to ask for approval to be life partners, and the special privileges that come with that.”

“Wow, that serious huh?” Quin said, distantly.

“Yeah.”

“So, you love her?”

Din smiled. “There isn’t anything I wouldn’t do for her.”


	14. Oblivion

The explosion sent shudders throughout the Razor Crest. Desperately it spiralled towards the wild forest planet, screaming red and loud as it broke through the atmosphere. 

“Who are they?” Quin growled, standing up from his seat as co-pilot so he could push Talia into the seat and strap her in. She went to protest, but he was already wedging himself into a space he wouldn’t budge from.

“Old friends,” Din said through gritted teeth. The ground was coming up hard and fast, he was struggling to control anything as everything bleared red and loud. For the briefest of moments he stole a glance towards Azree and the Child. “Hold tight, we’re coming in hot.”

There was another shot that propelled them dangerously off course. Inside the hard shell of the crib Azree felt the anxiety of the child. It took everything to keep her breathing even, her concentration on keeping everyone – including the white crib in front of her – tightly in place.

Then with a crack her head whipped painfully to the right.

The earth shattered into the Razor Crest.

The screeching of metal crushing against stone deafened her. There was pine and fire in the air, and the shattering of trees rattled in her ears. With every inch across the ground the hard shell of their home shuddered. Then slowly, painfully, they came to a halt.

For a moment, the haze held them. Something hissed while something sparked angrily, but the rest of the world held its breath in anticipation. Azree reached out to sense her crew around her. “Everyone okay?” She coughed through the burnt taste in the air. With a push she unlatched the lid of the crib and peered in to look at their small green child. He looked up at her with wide worried eyes. “It’s okay,” she said reassuringly and unstrapped herself to place a kiss against his forehead.

“Just,” Quin groaned, clambering onto his feet. With a quick look towards the others he helped Talia to unsteady feet.

“Kriff,” Din hissed, unstrapping himself slowly. She felt the sting flash across her forehead and leapt up to be by his side.

“What is it?” she asked, hands hovering over his body as if she could sense where the pain was. “Din?”

“It’s okay,” he said softly and took her hands. “I promise. Is the kid-?”

“He’s fine. Better than any of us, see,” she said pulling the crib closer to them.

At the sight of the two of them looking down, the little one smiled. The worry in his eyes eased and his expressive ears unfurled. He reminded her of a beautiful flower, opening for the sun. And then he winced, curling into the blankets. She felt it too. The undeniable energy of chaos, dark and desperate for revenge. It lingered at the fringes while smaller foes moved in.

“We have to get moving. They’re close by,” Azree said tucking the blankets around the little one tighter. It wasn’t much, but she hoped it would mask the chill that was beginning to settle.

 _“At least they’re not Imperials for a change,”_ Talia signed, before stretching out her strong arms. _“Imperials are not even worth it with their pathetic struggles.”_

Quin chuckled and made for the cockpit door. Prying it open when it wouldn’t budge. “Calling dibs, Din?”

“Let’s just make it quick.” Din moved to stand beside Azree and picked up the heavy metal ball in the kid’s bed, placing it between his paws. “You stay here, okay. Don’t go anywhere, stay right here and we’ll be right back.”

The kid dropped the ball and grabbed hold of Din’s finger desperately. He made low cooing noises and tugged. “It’ll be okay,” Azree hushed, dropping to one knee so she could kiss his little wrinkled forehead. “I’ll keep an eye on your Dad.”

Din pulled away, and while she couldn’t see the hurt expression across his face, she felt how painful it was. With one last smile, she closed the pod and moved it into a dark cubbyhole under the co-pilots console. No one would find him there. He’d be safe.

“You can stay,” Din said, pausing at the door to watch her.

“Your enemies are mine.” Flashing a smile, she pushed herself onto tippy toes to place a kiss against the hard cheek of his beskar. “Besides, I’d miss all the fun.”

Together they clambered free of the Razor Crest and moved into the clearing. Broken trees scattered in a violent mess across the newly made clearing. Through the fringes Azree saw the three of them approach, brazen and careless. One twi-lek, a human, and a red devaronian. She could sense their satisfaction, the cold wet desire to give a painful death. Inside she felt her own anger pulse, a low vibration waiting to be unleashed. Her blade sat heavy in her hand, begging to be released. _No one is going to hurt him,_ she thought determinedly and stole a look to Din. He looked cold and terrifying.

As she came to stand beside Talia, the dark blue veins of her body flaring angrily as she twisted a lethal looking quarterstaff in her hand. Azree realised it was less whether someone would hurt Din and more a matter of whether she’d get a piece before it was over. She hadn’t sensed Talia before a fight before. The violence that was waiting to be unhinged was terrifying. Enough to make the element within her hum with exhilaration.

“Did you buy some new friends, Mando?” the human called, a cocky grin slinking across a greasy face.

Azree couldn’t help herself. She reached out and felt her energy connect with his ankle, with a sharp tug she brought it from under the mercenary’s body. He collapsed face first with a gasp of surprise into the splinters of wood and heavy soil. The woman beside him hissed, a knife between her fingers before Azree could blink.

“Well that was fucking rude,” the human spat, pushing himself up angrily onto his feet. “What the fuck do you call that?”

Talia stilled next to her, the strong muscles under her dark skin coiling as she waited to strike. Reaching out, she could feel Quintin, his mind still and focused. The four of them stayed silent, almost daring the strangers to try and strike.

“Did you forget something huh? Did you think, after that dammed mission we’d just roll onto our stomachs and let you piss everywhere,” the human continued stepping forward. Azree tugged on his other leg this time, sending him flailing as he landed with a thud onto his back. “The fuck?”

“Your new girlfriend is getting annoying real fast,” the devaronian growled, grounding his fists into his palms. “I’m gonna crush her skull.”

“You’re not going to lay a hand on her,” Din growled stepping forward, so his body guarded hers. She could feel the anger rolling off him in waves.

The twi-lek twisted her head curiously, a chaotic smile spilling from a smile as her sharp teeth dragged across wet red lips. “I want her.”

“Get in line,” huffed the human finally coming to his feet. They were no more than twenty strides away from them now. “You shouldn’t have left us alive, Mando.”

“You’re outnumbered and outmatched, Mayfeld,” Din called.

“That’s hardly going to matter for long.”

Azree felt the irritation pulse like a burn, as Talia came closer and closer to the edge. _“Can I kill them now?”_ she signed, pulling her lips back from her teeth to snarl at the devaronian.

“They’re stalling,” Quin observed. “We should move, now.”

Mayfeld went to move forward, his foot cautiously dragging across the ground as if to spare him more embarrassment. He wasn’t the only one watching her carefully, with ill intent. “She’s too pretty for you, Mando. Don’t worry, we can fix that.”

The twi-lek howled with laughter before something clicked and the humour left her dark eyes. “Hey,” the woman snarled, slamming her fist against Mayfeld’s chest.

“The ex?” Azree asked, watching the way Din shifted on his feet.

“It was a long time ago,” he tried to explain with a shrug. “My taste has improved.”

“Drastically.”

The air stilled. Slowly the weight of anticipation burned against her muscles, consuming every breath. Quintin was right, they were stalling for something. The outsiders edged uncomfortably between irritation and anxiety. She could sense the toxic emotions rolling from them like waves. The sensation of darkness pressed against her skull, hinting at something with ill intent moving closer. _I’m not going to wait for what it might be._

With a deep breath she felt the well of power within her surge and released it with an open palm. They spiralled across the clearing, tumbling head over heels across the freshly made clearing. The twi-lek recovered first, howling in anger she lunged forward. “This one is mine,” Azree said releasing her blade and pointing it to the woman charging her.

Either side her companions rushed forward. Talia surged past her, screaming as she charged the devaronian. He was barely recovering as she leapt forward and brought the quarterstaff down across his shoulders with a violent crack. The red beast leapt away, barely missing a blaster shot from Quintin who had taken to the sky. Talia swung again, twisting her nimble body away from those powerful red fists.

And then the twi-lek was in front of her, sharp blades twisting in her fingers. With a dexterous flick of her wrist they rushed through the air and melted as they hit the orange of her blade. “Who are you waiting for?” Azree growled, dodging the next blade that hissed past her ear. She walked forward, feeling the element grow to pulse through her veins.

“They’re already here,” she chuckled, dancing away. Azree reached out and gripped her body, freezing her mid-stride to the ground. She felt fire in her veins. Power. _Kill._ The twi-lek’s eyes went wide like an animal caught in a trap. There were mere seconds left in her life and she couldn’t lift a finger to slow it.

“What do they want?”

“Witch! What are you doing to me?!” she spat and tried to struggle. Azree felt the feeble attempt to escape and tightened her grip, feeling the needles piercing against the twi-lek’s flesh.

“Tell me and I’ll give you a fighters chance,” Azree lured, reaching out her senses to try and sense whatever was approaching.

Slowly she lifted her blade, aware of the distant blaster shots. Panic overcame the woman as the blade grew closer to brandishing her. “FINE! THEY WANT THE CHILD– they want the child.”

Rage filled her and disgusted, Azree pushed the woman away. She pointed her lightsaber at the twi-lek’s cowering form in the dirt. Overhead two Imperial transports rushed past, coming in fast, leaving streaks of dark smoke trailing behind. One clearly couldn’t control its speed as it spiralled dangerously towards the ground. The fighting paused to witness the ship disappear behind the treeline before a bloom of red lit up the sky and a shockwave raced towards them.

Something red fluttered from the shadows of the forest. A cold washed over Azree, it sent ice through her veins and an ache in her chest. Before she’d been bewitched, but she knew in her bones who the approaching woman was. Bright yellow cat eyes never left her prey.

 _You could have a master,_ the element whispered from inside her. She felt the smoke fill her chest as the woman waited at the edge of the clearing. Closer and closer she came without moving. Distantly she was aware of the blaster shots, the growls and snarls of battle and the sound of approaching troopers.

“You’re going to die, witch,” the twi-lek hissed.

 _You could protect the ones you love,_ it whispered as she came to stand before the woman. Her long pale limbs spilled from deep folds of a Sith red jumpsuit. Slits ran up to her shapely hips and exposed the powerful muscles of her legs. It seemed impractical, but the sight of her was breath-taking.

“Ahh, sweet one – we meet again,” with a flick of her wrist she produced a blade handle in each hand. “I sense there is a darkness in you. It’s simply dying to be unleashed.” 

Her chest pounded; she felt her hands go clammy. “Be with me,” she whispered and lifted her blade. The familiar hum surged through her from the fingertips to her mind, stilling her presence with each breath. “Be with me.”

The woman laughed, a sound like light itself with the beautiful melody of a siren. “Your mantras will not work,” she warned, prowling closer. “What I want is not unreasonable. You and the child can come with me, you both hold such unique power. I ask that you only live up to your potential. Potential that Master Kestis saw in you when he stole you away from normality.”

Rage surged through her, sending dangerous volts of electricity dancing across her skin. “You know nothing about me.”

The Sith continued forward undisturbed by the sudden display. Wind danced through the long grass and sent her red skirts scattering, the pale of her skin seemed to glow in the evening light. For a moment everything seemed to hold its breath, she felt the smoky element – so desperate to be wild – freeze in anticipation.

“What you saw scared them, Azrael. They realised who you really were, a warrior, not a puppet. They had to send you away.”

She was nearly within striking distance. Azree settled into her fighting form, calling on the strength of the Jedi before her to help her. She was so poorly trained to fight the Sith and she was desperate for survival. The well of her own darkness waited eagerly for her call. “I will never let you take the child,” she growled.

“Very well.”

The Sith lifted her arms above her head before bringing them down with a crack like lightening. There was a flash of red, the ancient groan from the trees surrounding her as they struggled to stay upright, and then through the darkness two red lines of light. “You’ve never fought anyone like me before, sweet thing,” the Sith purred twisting the handles as the trees crashed around her. Azree watched the strange blades that looked more like two whips than lightsabers. They slithered and hissed like vipers striking out dangerously to cut at anything in their path.

“THEN FIGHT ME!” screamed Azree, striking hard and fast at her core.

The Sith twisted, bringing her vipers up to wrap around the orange blade. Azree pivoted, letting herself be drawn against the Sith’s chest so she could kick back hard into her knees. Like air the Sith slipped free and with a push Azree jumped into the air and spun free of her grasp. The vipers struck out, missing her by mere centimetres and slicing through the thick wood of an old tree. The crack rang through the purple haze of dusk.

“Good, you’re not just a pretty face,” the woman hissed, twisting as she used her whole body to strike hard and fast. Azree ducked and dived past the blades, into her close quarters and began her own relentless attack. Everything was moving to fast for thought. The violent drive of her instinct consumed her. She felt the feelings of things before they happened, and moved just in time to meet her orange blade against red. And inside she felt the dangerous thrill push her harder and harder.

With a violent surge of power, she pushed the Sith scattering into a tree and lunged, swinging her blade high above her head. The woman dived across the dirt. The orange blade cut deep into the tree and with a push, Azree flipped away from her next attack. In the space between them she felt the cold of the evening air against her hot skin. She felt alive, and she sensed the woman in front of her hum with a similar energy.

“Complete your training,” the Sith urged, bringing one blade into the other. Her chest rose and fell with each deep, deliberate breath. Through the treeline Azree saw the white of approaching Stormtroopers drawing closer. “Then you may train the young one. As my apprentice I can protect you and your family you are so passionate about.”

“The Sith are murderers,” Azree hissed. “I would rather die than be foolish enough to believe you.”

A scream echoed through the trees. Blaster shots rang through the evening air. The Sith whipped her head in its direction, the flush on her cheeks paling. “Say what you will, but if you all leave with me now, you will all breathe another day. What follows those screams-“ 

The ground shuddered with the charge. Wild howls and screams tore through the darkening forest. Azree reached out, her chest beginning to hammer as she backed away. The blaster shots were thinning and in the growing darkness all Azree could see was less and less white and darkness swallowed everything.

“You can’t sense them, sweet thing,” the Sith called. “But you know them. Please, come with me. Come now. I can protect you.”

Azree shook her head. “No.”

 _They’re just a memory, a horrible memory._ Then the smell hit her. The sickening stench of rotting flesh, the copper of blood.

“Tick then, my pretty bomb.” The Sith turned on her heels, and with one last sad look disappeared into the darkness of the forest.

She felt hands on her.

_Hide here, and don’t you dare come out. No matter what you hear, hide and stay hidden._

_Be brave Azrael. I’m so sorry my padawan._

A sob choked her throat. Dimly she was aware of Din standing in front of her, hands on her face as his helmet filled her view. Blaster fire surrounded her, red against the dark purple bruise in the sky. Quin’s screams echoed across the clearing, his body shaking as he fired again and again.

_They eat the weak ones first, and they do it slowly, careful to keep you alive_

_for as long as possible._

Din moved from her view to fire at the incoming wave. There were too many of them swarming from the trees. They would never make it.

_Let us fight. Let go._

She didn’t fight the oblivion.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Happy Weekend All!!   
> I hope you enjoyed the chapter, thank you to everyone reading and supporting the story so far! I had a big old plot brainstorm last week and I'm super excited to let you know how it's all going to play out :D  
> Stay safe and cool.


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